* Stocks rise, dollar firms on upbeat U.S. jobs data
* Best job growth in 3 years signals recovery on solid
ground
* Investors now looking to earnings season
(Repeats to more subscribers)
SINGAPORE, April 5 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on Monday
and the dollar firmed after data showed U.S. employers created
jobs last month at the fastest pace pace in three years,
boosting investor confidence and hopes of a sustained economic
recovery.
U.S. S&P 500 stock index futures <.SPX> rose 0.5 percent in
Asian trading after the job report, topping an intraday peak in
an abbreviated futures session on Friday.
Most cash markets in the U.S. and Europe were closed for
the Good Friday holiday when the jobs data was released.
But trading in Asia was lighter than usual, with markets in
Australia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and New Zealand closed for
holidays.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose 162,000 in March, the largest
since March 2007, and only the third time payrolls have
increased since the recession hit in late 2007, the strongest
signal yet that its economic recovery is on solid footing and
needs less government help. []
The unemployment rate, however, held steady at 9.7 percent
for a third straight month, the Labor Department said on
Friday.
Economists had expected nonfarm payrolls to rise 190,000
last month, but they said a solid rise in private-sector hiring
gave the report a stronger-than-expected tone. []
Japan's Nikkei rose 0.9 percent to 11,386.13, after
climbing as high as 11,408.17, a fresh 18-month peak, as
automakers such as Honda Motor <7267.T> and Toyota Motor
<7203.T> continued to rise following a jump in U.S. auto sales
in March.
The Nikkei also drew support from the yen's fall last week
to a seven-month low against the dollar.
The dollar rose as high as 94.78 yen <JPY=> on trading
platform EBS in early Asian trade, the highest since late
August 2009, before trading at 94.56 yen, nearly flat from
midday trading in New York on Friday.
A fall in the yen can help Japanese exporters as it makes
their products more competitive and can increase their overseas
profits when repatriated back home.
But analysts said further gains could be limited by worries
that the Nikkei may have rallied too far, too fast.
The Nikkei 225's relative strength index is now reading 87.
Numbers above 70 indicate a market has been overbought.
"Concerns that the market may be overheated are likely to
linger," said Masayuki Doshida, market analyst at Matsui
Securities.
The MSCI's broad measure of shares in the Asia-Pacific
excluding Japan edged up 0.2 percent <.MIAPJ0000PUS>.
Indonesian stocks <> rose more than 1 percent to a
record high of 2,874.43, taking its gains to nearly 13 percent
so far this year as foreign investors snap up Indonesian stocks
and bonds on strong economic growth prospects.
But South Korea's KOSPI <> fell 0.3 percent, easing
from a 21-month high hit on Friday.
DOLLAR FIRMS
The dollar extended gains against the yen on the generally
upbeat jobs data.
Traders said climbs in long-term Treasuries yields after
the jobs report, with the benchmark 10-year yield <US10YT=RR>
rising to a 9-month high near 4 percent, also boosted the
dollar's yield appeal compared to the low-yielding yen. []
Some economists said relatively strong details of the
nonfarm payroll report suggested the Federal Reserve could
raise interest rates as early as late this year, which would
further increase the yield appeal of the dollar. The central
bank had slashed them to near zero during the global financial
crisis to spur growth.
A solid rise in private-sector hiring also led some traders
to believe the Fed may raise its discount rate again at a
meeting later on Monday, but most analysts doubted it would
make such a move so quickly.
The Fed surprised markets on Feb 18 when it hiked the
discount rate, the emergency rate at which it lends to banks,
by a quarter point to 0.75 percent.
The yen was under broad selling pressure with euro hitting
a 10-week high and the Australian dollar striking a 18-month
peak in holiday-thinned early Asia trade.
"The dollar looks already high enough against the yen to
take profits," said a senior trader at a Japanese bank.
"But the currency's strength since Friday without a major
corrective move down suggests that it may stay on a firm
footing at least until the market sees the result of the Fed
meeting today," the trader said.
Markets were also watching for news on the yuan after
signals of a thaw in frosty relations between Washington and
Beijing raised expectations that China may unshackle the yuan
from its de facto 20-month-old peg and let it appreciate
against the dollar and other major currencies in the months
ahead.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said he will
delay an April 15 report that could have branded China a
"currency manipulator", following Beijing's announcement that
President Hu Jintao will attend a nuclear security summit in
Washington on April 12-13.
(Editing by Kim Coghill0
