(From Reuters)
Asian stocks were mostly lower on Monday after a disappointing U.S. jobs report raised questions about the underlying strength of the world’s biggest economy and worse-than-expected trade numbers out of China.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices soared on supply woes stemming from devastating wildfires in Canada.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS dipped 0.2 percent. Australian stocks shed 0.4 percent and South Korea’s Kospi .KS11 fell 0.6 percent.
Shanghai stocks .SSEC retreated more than 2 percent after data released over the weekend showed Chinese exports fell 1.8 percent in April. ECONCN
Japan’s Nikkei .N225 bucked the trend and rose 0.5 percent as the yen’s recent surge appeared to halt for now.
“Investor sentiment has finally recovered. Unless the dollar falls below the 105 yen mark, the Nikkei will likely start recovering,” said Kazuhiro Takahashi, equity strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo. Read more