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Singapore - Most Asian stocks dropped as a strong US payrolls report bolstered the case for higher interest rates this year. Japanese shares gained after the yen weakened.
BHP Billiton slid 5.6% in Sydney as prosecutors in Brazil sought the suspension of licenses at its iron-ore venture in the country as well as compensation for victims after two dams burst, causing deadly mudslides.
Asics slumped 18% in Tokyo after the shoemaker cut its full-year profit forecast. Honda gained 1.9% in Tokyo, pacing gains among Japanese exporters whose prospects are improving because of the weaker yen.
Citic Securities, China’s biggest brokerage, rose 0.6% as the government plans to resume initial public offering by the end of the year.
About five shares fell for every four that gained on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which was little changed at 133.65 as of 10:07. Japan’s Topix index climbed 1.8% after the yen slid against the dollar on Friday.
Odds on the Fed increasing its benchmark rate in December jumped to 70% after data showed a 271 000 gain in US payrolls in October, the biggest this year and exceeding all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
“Strong US jobs data for October supports the case for a December Fed rate hike,” said Shane Oliver, Sydney-based strategist at AMP Capital Investors, which oversees about A$156bn.
“The Fed is unlikely to do anything to threaten global growth, and this in turn should help see the global economic recovery continue. As such, share markets are likely back in a broad rising trend.”
The jobless rate fell to a seven-year low of 5% and average hourly earnings over the past 12 months climbed by the most since 2009.
The median forecast called for a 185 000 advance in payrolls. Estimates of 75 economists in the Bloomberg survey ranged from gains of 75 000 to 250 000. Revisions to prior reports added a total of 12 000 jobs to the August and September readings.
Regional gauges
South Korea’s Kospi index lost 0.8%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and Taiwan’s Taiex index each declined 0.6%. New Zealand’s S&P NZX 50 Index slid 0.4%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 1.8%. Singapore’s Straits Times Index decreased 0.6%.
The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.6% to an 11- week high as news of the IPO resumption in the mainland overshadowed China’s weakening trade data.
The regulator will lift a five-month freeze on initial public offerings by the end of the year, removing one of its key measures of support for the stock market as equities recover from a $5trn rout.
Overseas shipments dropped 6.9% in October in dollar terms, the customs administration said Sunday, a bigger decline than estimated by all 31 economists in a Bloomberg survey.
Weaker demand for coal, iron and other commodities from declining heavy industries helped push imports down 18.8%, leaving a record trade surplus of $61.6bn.
E-mini futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.2% on Monday. The underlying US equity gauge slipped less than 0.1% on Friday.
