Asian Shares Rise In Thin Holiday Trade

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks rose broadly on Monday, with markets in mainland China and South Korea closed for holidays.

Focus shifted to the release of ISM Services PMI later in the day and the minutes of the September FOMC meeting on Wednesday after softer U.S. jobs data reinforced bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve may hold interest rates steady later this month.

The U.S. dollar was on a firm footing in Asian trade and bond yields steadied while gold edged up slightly to hold above $4,150 an ounce, recovering from an early slide.

Brent crude futures fell nearly 1 percent toward $101 a barrel after gaining almost 5 percent last week.

Amid rising risks to global supplies, major OPEC+ members agreed over the weekend to leave production quotas unchanged next month.

Yemen's government forces said Sunday they had struck Houthi targets in the capital Sanaa and Taiz in the southwest, deepening the conflict ravaging one of the world's poorest nations and the wider region.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished 0.28 percent higher at 24,040.34 as selling pressure in rate-sensitive real estate and financial shares offset gains in technology stocks.

Japanese markets soared as investors scooped up chip-related stocks following a rise in U.S. stocks on Friday.

The Nikkei average closed 2.40 percent higher at 69,946.86 after crossing 70,000 for the first time in three months earlier.

The broader Topix index advanced 1.33 percent to 4,145.22. Among the top gainers, SoftBank Group, Advantest and Tokyo Electron surged 3-6 percent. Financials also moved higher, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial rising around 2 percent each.

Investors shrugged off data that showed Japan's service sector expanded at a weaker pace in September. The Japanese yen was little changed ahead of a series of economic reports due this week. Japan no longer needs expansionary fiscal and monetary policies aimed at boosting demand, former Bank of Japan board member Asahi Noguchi said in an interview on Friday, reinforcing expectations that the central bank could raise interest rates again as early as December.

Australian markets gave up early gains to finish marginally higher, led by gains in healthcare stocks. Biopharmaceutical giant CSL rose about 1 percent after it agreed to pay up to $1.6 billion to jointly develop and commercialize an experimental treatment for rare kidney and liver diseases.

PYC Therapeutics rallied 3.7 percent and Cochlear surged 4.2 percent. Macmahon Holdings jumped 4.5 percent after securing a $98 million contract extension at the Daisy Milano Gold Mine.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index edged up 0.14 percent to 13,699.02, halting losses from the previous two sessions.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday as data showing much weaker-than-expected job growth in September reduced expectations for a potential Federal Reserve rate hike later this month.

Data showed non-farm payroll employment rose by 29,000 jobs in September after an increase of a downwardly revised 133,000 jobs in August, while economists had expected employment to increase by 85,000 jobs.

Wage pressures were lower than expected. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent in August while economists had expected it to remain unchanged. Separate data showed factory orders rose less than expected in August.

Bond yields moved higher as hawkish comments from Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan calling for an increase in short-term borrowing costs by at least another 50 basis points offset softer jobs data.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.2 percent to a new record high, the S&P 500 advanced 0.7 percent and the narrower Dow gained half a percent.