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Hong Kong - Asian markets were mixed in holiday-thinned trade Monday, with Tokyo edging higher despite more weak growth data and a pick-up in the yen that came in response to a below-forecast US jobs report.
The disappointing data out of Washington on Friday dampened the prospects of an early Federal Reserve interest rate hike, which in turn helped the S&P 500 to another record.
Tokyo rose 0.14%, Hong Kong eased 0.17%, Sydney shed 0.29% and Singapore was flat. Shanghai, Seoul and Taipei were closed for public holidays.
The Labour Department said Friday the US added 142 000 new jobs in August, snapping a six-month streak of more than 200 000 jobs per a month and far below the 223 000 tipped by analysts.
While the news shows the economy is still finding its feet, it will ease pressure on the Fed, which has faced growing calls to hike interest rates this year following a string of upbeat figures.
The S&P 500 rose 0.50% to a record close, the Dow put on 0.40% to narrowly miss an all-time high and the Nasdaq gained 0.45%.
"US markets perceive data with optimism. Even the bad jobs figures have been interpreted as a likely sign that the Fed won't speed up its stimulus tapering programme any time soon," said SMBC Friend Securities strategist Toshihiko Matsuno.
With the prospect of US rates remaining at record lows until late next year, traders edged out of the dollar, although a fresh round of weak Japanese growth figures kept it from sinking against the yen.
The dollar bought ¥105.04 in Tokyo on Monday, against ¥105.06 in New York. It is well off the ¥105.33 in early Tokyo trade on Friday.
The euro bought $1.2956 and ¥136.07 against $1.2951 and ¥136.14 in New York.
Japan said on Monday that its economy shrank 1.8% on-quarter in April-June, worse than the previously estimated contraction of 1.7%.
"The poor GDP revision ... leads expectations for more Bank of Japan assistance to keep the economy going," Matsuno told Dow Jones Newswires.
"At any rate, the currency market is not being adversely affected by normally depressing news, and thus the impact on the Nikkei is minimal."
On oil markets US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery eased 7 cents to $93.22, while Brent crude for October fell 24c to $100.58.
Gold was at $1 266.75 an ounce, against $1 265.46 late on Friday.
