Asian shares rose on Friday after U.S. stocks climbed to a record as Wall Street made its final moves ahead of an update on the American job market that could clear the way for cuts to interest rates that investors love.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.9% to 42,945.16 after data released Friday showed Japan’s labor cash earnings rose 4.1% year-on-year in July, up from 3.1% in June. Another report showed household spending climbed 1.4% in July from the same month a year ago, marking growth for the third month in a row.
President Donald Trump also signed an executive order Thursday implementing the U.S. trade deal with Japan in July, with lower tariffs on Japanese car imports.
In Chinese markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index moved up 0.5% to 25,194.85, while the Shanghai Composite index added 0.4% to 3,778.95.
South Korea’s Kospi edged up less than 0.1% to 3,203.13, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3% to 8,855.20.
India’s BSE Sensex was 0.2% higher, while Taiwan’s Taiex jumped more than 1%.
U.S. futures were higher while oil prices edged down.
On Wall Street on Thursday, the S&P 500 added 0.8% to top the all-time high it set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 350 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%.
Stocks got some lift from easing pressure from the bond market, where Treasury yields fell following the latest reports on the U.S. job market to come in worse than economists expected. One report suggested employers, not including the government, nearly halved their hiring in August from the prior month. Another said that more workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in an indication of rising layoffs.
Neither number is flashing a recession, and a third report on activity for businesses in the information and other services industries showed stronger-than-expected growth.
The upside for investors of a slowdown in the job market is that it could push the Federal Reserve to cut its main interest rate for the first time this year at its next meeting in a couple weeks. Such cuts can kickstart the economy and job market, though they can also accelerate inflation.
So far this year, the Fed has kept its main interest rate on hold because it’s been more worried about inflation potentially worsening because of Trump’s tariffs than about the job market.
A more comprehensive report on the job market’s health during August will arrive Friday from the U.S. Labor Department and it will likely carry much weight with the Fed. Ahead of it, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.16% from 4.22% late Wednesday.
In other dealings Friday, benchmark U.S. crude lost 13 cents to $63.35 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, slid 11 cents to $66.88 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar slipped to 148.13 Japanese yen from 148.05. The euro rose to $1.1672 from $1.1654.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe in New York contributed to this report.