Asian stocks bounce back

Investors await a US job report.


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By :  ,  Financial Analyst

Asian stocks ended the week on a positive note today (May 8th), reversing some earlier losses, as investors awaited US employment data.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.5 per cent to 151.04 in Tokyo, after ending yesterday at its lowest since April 7th. 

"Now we look forward to the US jobs data," Andrew Clarke, director of trading at Hong Kong brokerage Mirabaud Asia Ltd told Bloomberg. "Also I’d say there’s short covering maybe in Hong Kong and China, plus a little bit of a rally as those markets dropped quite quickly over the past three days."

Worse-than-expected Chinese trade figures boosted shares as investors hope for additional economic stimulus measures. Exports fell 6.4 per cent and imports tumbled 16.2 per cent. 

China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.3 percent to 4,205.92, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.5 per cent to 19,379.19 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.1 per cent to 27,577.34. South Korea's Kospi shed 0.3 per cent to 2,085.52 while, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.2 per cent to 5,634.60. India's Sensex gained two per cent to 26,964.65.

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