Asian Stocks Rise; Hang Seng Up 1.03% in Early Trade After U.S. Jobs Data

Asian stocks rose on Friday after a lukewarm U.S. jobs report reduced expectations of an imminent Federal Reserve rate hike, according to RTHK.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened up 185 points, or 0.81%, at 23,240 and later rose as much as 238 points, or 1.03%, to 23,293 in early trading. The Hang Seng Tech Index was up 33 points, or 0.76%, at 4,487, while the China Enterprises Index gained 62 points, or 0.82%, to 7,674.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite opened up 2 points, or 0.06%, at 4,031. The Shenzhen Component fell 18 points, or 0.12%, to 15,480 and the ChiNext Index slipped 6 points, or 0.16%, to 4,010.

Japan’s Nikkei was volatile, opening down 57 points at 68,676, dropping to 67,609, then rebounding to 69,243, up 510 points or 0.74%, at one stage before midday. South Korea’s Kospi also swung sharply, opening up 91 points, or 1.2%, at 7,739, falling to 7,378, then rising to 7,864, up 216 points or 2.83%, at one stage before noon.

The report said U.S. job growth slowed sharply in June and payroll gains for the prior two months were revised lower. The unemployment rate fell to 4.2% from 4.3% in May as workers left the labor force, pushing the participation rate to the lowest level in more than five years. Westpac analysts said the figures challenged the view that the Fed remains on track to hike in the second half of this year, while traders increased bets the Fed will keep rates on hold until October.