Asian stocks mixed ahead of US jobs report

The US nonfarm payrolls report for September is due later today.


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By :  ,  Financial Analyst

Asian stocks ended the week on a subdued note today (October 2nd) as investors await a US jobs report that is expected to give clues about when the US Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates.

According to a Reuters forecast, the US nonfarm payrolls report for September will show that employers added 203,000 jobs in September, with an unemployment rate remaining at 5.1 per cent.

"I'm just looking for steady, continuing improvement in the labour market, continuing improvement in the economy," US Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco president John Williams said yesterday. He told reporters he sees the US Fed raising rates this year, possibly as early as October.

Overnight, Wall Street ended the session on a mixed note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average remained unchanged, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite added 0.2 per cent each.

Japan's Nikkei 225 edged up 0.1 per cent to 17,735.78 today, while South Korea's Kospi lost 0.2 per cent to 1,975.04. Hong Kong's Hang Seng soared 2.7 per cent to 21,415.01 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.3 per cent to 5,045.40. Markets in mainland China are closed for holidays until October 8th.

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