Hongkong Investors in Asia are holding back on Monday following the latest US job data. The decline in the US unemployment rate to 3.9 percent and the rise in wages suggest the economy ran out of workers in December. “This is in line with the Fed’s evolving view that the labor market is approaching or has already reached its peak and that wage pressures are mounting,” analysts at NatWest Markets wrote in a note. “This is likely to fuel speculation about a rate hike in March, and we have moved our estimate of a rate hike by the Fed from June to March.”
The Tokyo Stock Exchange remained closed for a public holiday. The Shanghai Stock Exchange was 0.3 percent up. The index of the most important companies in Shanghai and Shenzen gained 0.4 percent.
In Asian foreign exchange trading, the dollar gained 0.2 percent to 115.77 yen and was down 0.1 percent to 6.3735 yuan. In relation to the Swiss currency, it was quoted 0.1 percent higher at 0.9199 francs. At the same time, the euro fell 0.2 percent to 1.1339 dollars and was barely changed at 1.0431 francs. The pound sterling stagnated at $ 1.3589.
More: These seven graphs show the risks to the US stock market
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