Asia stocks mostly gain following better-than-expected US jobs data

The broad MSCI Asia-ex Japan index gained 0.38% to 541.69, as of 9:49 a.m. HK/SIN.

Mainland Chinese stocks gained in early trade, with the Shanghai composite adding 0.85% and the Shenzhen component advancing about 1.49%. The Shenzhen composite also rose 0.669%.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also saw gains of 0.55%.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose fractionally in morning trade as index heavyweight Fast Retailing added more than 1.5%. The Topix, on the other hand, slipped 0.21%.

Over in South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.23%.

Korean Air Lines said on Monday that its chairman, Cho Yang-ho, passed away — weeks after he was ousted from the Korean Air board. The carrier has been hit in recent years by a series of scandals involving its founding family members, culminating in the indictment of Cho last year on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust. Cho had denied the charges against him.

Shares of Korean Air Lines and Hanjin Transportation — where Cho also served as chairman — jumped more than 3% and 13%, respectively.

Australia’s ASX 200 advanced 0.55% as almost all the sectors gained.

The U.S. economy added 196,000 jobs in March, according to government data released Friday, beating economists’ prediction of 175,000 jobs.

“With the most recent payrolls data, the positive, non-inflationary growth story continues for the U.S.,” Jack Chambers from ANZ Research said in a morning note.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that the U.S. economy would climb like “a rocket ship” if the Federal Reserve cut interest rates, following the strong jobs report.

“The Fed remains firm that monetary policy will continue to be set along established, independent lines with the Fed currently data dependent,” Chambers said.

Investors also continued to monitor developments on U.S.-China trade.

On Saturday, Chinese official broadcaster CCTV reported that there was “new progress” in trade talks that wrapped in Washington on Friday, Reuters reported. U.S. and Chinese officials were said to have discussed draft agreement text on contentious issues such as technology transfer, protection of intellectual property rights, and the bilateral trade balance, among others.

“The mood music continues to be quite positive, though the market awaits a ‘deal’,” David de Garis, director of economics and markets at the National Australia Bank, wrote in a morning note.

On the Brexit front, British Prime Minister Theresa May continues to face challenges in securing a deal for her country that is agreeable with Parliament. The U.K. is set to bow out of the European Unionlater in April unless May is able to secure another extension of the deadline for Britain.

The British pound last traded at $1.3044 after seeing highs above $1.314 last week.

Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of its peers, traded at 97.330, up from levels near 97.00 seen last week.

Among other currency pairs, the Japanese yen traded at 111.50 to the dollar, after touching levels below 111.00 in the previous week. The Australian dollar was at $0.7096 after seeing lows around the $0.705 handle last week.

Oil prices gained in the morning of Asian trading hours, with the international benchmark Brent crude futures contract adding 0.51% to $70.70 per barrel and U.S. crude futures advancing 0.6% to $63.46 per barrel.

— Reuters contributed to this report.