Asian Markets Gain After Wall St. Tumbles

Shares in Asia advanced Monday after Wall Street suffered its worst day since May, following the release of weak U.S. jobs data, Elaine Kurtenbach reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 1.2%, bouncing back from deeper losses, to close at 40,297.91. I Photo: Tokyo Stock Exchange LinkedIn

Markets in Asia had already reacted on Friday to U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement late Thursday of sweeping tariffs on imports from many U.S. trading partners.

The new import duties are set to take effect on Thursday.

Signs of trouble on the U.S. economic horizon have raised hopes that the Federal Reserve may relent and cut interest rates, analysts said. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 1.2%, bouncing back from deeper losses, to close at 40,297.91.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong jumped 0.8% to 24,691.53, while the Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.6% to 3,580.84.

In South Korea, the Kospi surged 1.2% to 3,155.64. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was nearly unchanged at 8,662.50.

Investors’ worries about a weakening U.S. economy deepened after the latest report on job growth showed that employers added just 73,000 jobs in July—sharply below economists’ expectations.

“The labor market, once a pillar of resilience, is now looking more like a late-cycle casualty, as soft data begin to replace soft landings in market discourse,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 1.6%, its biggest decline since May 21 and its fourth straight loss. It closed at 6,238.01, posting a 2.4% loss for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.2% to 43,588.58, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.2% to finish at 20,650.13.