Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading higher in the early deals on Monday, after a dismal US jobs report pushed down US Treasury yields as investors pared bets the US Federal Reserve would hike interest rates anytime soon. Labor Department data showed U.S. employers added the fewest jobs in more than a year in March. The Japanese market opened lower following the release of weaker-than-expected US non-farm payroll employment data released on Friday Among the other markets that are open for trading South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are up with modest gains, while Shanghai, Taiwan and Hong Kong are closed for the Ching Ming Festival. Meanwhile, Japan is down with modest losses.
FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 7.82 points or 0.43% to 1,842.34, KOSPI Index surged 4.56 points or 0.22% to 2,049.98, Jakarta Composite strengthen 24.35 points or 0.45% to 5,480.75 and Straits Times was up by 1.99 points or 0.06% to 3,455.74.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was down by 68.54 points or 0.35% to 19,366.54.