Asian shares advance on Wall St jobs rally, OPEC plus deal
BANGKOK (AP) — Shares advanced Monday in Asia, buoyed by surprisingly strong U.S. jobs figures that helped power a surge on Wall Street on Friday.
Crude oil prices rose after major oil producing nations agreed to extend a production cut of nearly 10 million barrels of oil a day through the end of July to counter the blow to demand from the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. crude for July delivery added 27 cents to $39.82 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 54 cents to $42.84 per barrel.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.9% to 23,075.73 as the government reported the economy contracted at a 2.2% annual rate in the January-March quarter, better than the initially estimated minus 3.4%.
Private sector spending was better than earlier reported, the Cabinet Office said. However, the first quarter came before Japan felt the full impact of partial shutdowns at home due to a nationwide state of emergency that has since been lifted.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.4% to 24,871.34 and the Shanghai Composite index also gained 0.4%, to 2,941.92. In South Korea, the Kospi edged 0.2% higher to 2,186.11.
Australia's markets were closed for a holiday.
Shares rallied on Wall Street on Friday, with the S&P 500 gaining another 2.6% to 3,193.93, its eighth gain in 10 trading sessions, after a report said more American jobs were added than expected in May.
That raised hopes that the worst of the recession may have already passed. But economists cautioned that many risks still loom on the long road to a full recovery.
“Amid the recent wave of May data releases, however, one should nevertheless be cautioned against reading too much into any single month-on-month change, particularly during...
