Trump meets Zelenskiy, says Putin wants war to end, mulls trilateral talks
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, June 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures and Asian
shares advanced on Monday after a surprise recovery in U.S.
employment gave further confidence of a quick economic recovery
after many weeks of lockdowns aimed at controlling the
coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. S&P500 futures ESc1 rose 0.5% to stand near their
highest levels since late February while Japan's Nikkei .N225
opened more than 1% higher.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.3% in early trade, with South Korea's
Kospi .KS11 rising 1.4%. The Australian share market was
closed for a holiday.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 2.509 million jobs last month
- in contrast with consensus estimates of a fall in 8 million
jobs after a record plunge of 20.687 million in April.
The Labor Department's closely watched employment report
also showed the jobless rate falling to 13.3% last month from
14.7% in April, a post-World War Two high. Economists had
forecast the rate jumping to 19.8%.
"Although there are some risk factors such as weekend
demonstrations in the United States and concerns about the
second wave of the coronavirus, hopes of economic reopening are
taking the lead," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at
Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.
U.S. bond prices have tumbled, with the 10-year Treasuries
yield rising to as high as 0.959% US10YT=RR on Friday, a level
last seen in mid-March.
The sharp gains in U.S. bond yields over the last couple of
days put more focus on the U.S. central bank, which will hold a
two-day policy meeting ending on Wednesday.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said the U.S. economy could feel
the weight of the economic shutdown for more than a year.
Chinese trade data published on Sunday also showed the
ongoing impact from the epidemic.
Exports contracted in May as global coronavirus lockdowns
continued to devastate demand, while a sharper-than-expected
fall in imports pointed to mounting pressure on manufacturers as
global growth stalls. Oil prices rose after OPEC, Russia and allies agreed on
Saturday to extend record oil production cuts until the end of
July. OPEC+ had initially agreed in April that it would cut supply
by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) during May-June to prop up
prices that collapsed due to the coronavirus crisis. Those cuts
were due to taper to 7.7 million bpd from July to December.
Brent crude LCOc1 rose more than 2% to $43.32 per barrel
while U.S. crude futures CLc1 gained 2% to $40.36.
Gold slipped to $1,681.0 per ounce XAU= , near its lowest
levels since late April.
In the currency market, safe-haven currencies were softer
while risk-sensitive ones outperformed.
The Japanese yen stood at 109.67 to the dollar JPY= , near
Friday's 10-week low of 109.85.
The euro changed hands at $1.1303 EUR= , not far off
three-month high of $1.1384 touched on Friday while the
Australian dollar stood at $0.6993 AUD=D4 , near its highest
this year.
The offshore Chinese yuan hit its highest level in five
weeks at 7.0669 to the dollar CNH= .