Asia shares boosted by US jobs growth, Europe down

[May 09, 2011]  BANGKOK (AP) -- Better-than-expected growth in U.S. jobs and a bounce back in commodity prices led to modest gains in Asian markets Monday, but Europe opened broadly lower amid concerns over Greece's debt crisis.

Oil rose above $100 a barrel, regaining some ground after last week's plunge. In currencies, the dollar weakened against the euro but was up against the yen.

The possibility that Greece -- mired in recession because of austerity measures -- may need more time to repay its debts, weighed on markets in Europe. Britain's FTSE 100 was 0.3 percent lower to 5,959.40. Germany's DAX slipped 0.9 percent to 7,431.45 and France's CAC-40 lost 0.9 percent to 4,022.36.

Wall Street appeared set for a higher opening, however, with Dow Jones industrial futures up 46 points to 12,615 and S&P 500 futures 5.4 points higher to 1,340.

The U.S. Labor Department reported Friday that private employers hired 268,000 people in April, the most since February 2006. Taking into account job cuts of government workers, the economy added a total of 244,000 jobs overall last month, well above the 185,000 jobs that analysts had predicted and easing worries that the economic recovery was faltering.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.8 percent to 23,336, with retail, raw materials and energy companies among the leaders. Anhui Conch Cement Co. Ltd. rose 2.9 percent and PetroChina Co. Ltd., the publicly traded unit of China's biggest oil and gas company, was 1.7 percent higher.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3 percent to 4,756.80, with BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's largest mining company, gaining 0.4 percent and rival Rio Tinto Ltd. up 0.6 percent.

A rebound in oil and commodities following last week's slide gave investors the confidence to wade back into shares, said Jackson Wong, vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong.

"There were oversold sectors -- sold off on concerns that overall, the markets would crash. But everything is stabilizing, so investors are buying," Wong said.

But Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average ran into headwinds as the country struggles to rebuild following the March earthquake and tsunami. Down 0.7 percent at 9,794.38, the index has lost 4 percent since the March 11 disasters killed more than 25,000 people, destroyed towns, upended a nuclear power plant and washed away entire industries.

Shares of Chubu Electric Power Co., which operates the Hamaoka nuclear plant along Japan's Pacific coast, plunged 10.3 percent after the government asked the company to shut three reactors while the utility builds a seawall and improves backup systems to protect the reactors from a major earthquake and tsunami.

Nuclear energy provides more than one-third of Japan's electricity, and shutting the three reactors would likely worsen power shortages expected this summer.

South Korea's Kospi finished lower, by 0.4 percent lower at 2,139.17.

Mainland Chinese shares edged higher as investors snapped up bargains after last week's big losses.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3 percent to 2,872.46 and the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.7 percent to 1,203.07. Shares in nuclear energy and railways led the gains.

"Nuclear shares led the advance because of reports that approvals for nuclear projects might resume by August," said Yang Yining, an analyst at Capital-edge Investment & Management, based in Shanghai. China halted approvals of new nuclear plants in March after the tsunami crippled Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi plant.

On Wall Street on Friday, better-than-expected job growth helped send shares higher after a four-day slump.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 54.57 points to close at 12,638.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.10 to 1,340.20. The Nasdaq composite rose 12.84 to 2,827.56.

Benchmark crude for June delivery was up $2.96 to $100.17 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.62 to settle at $97.18 on Friday.

The euro rose to $1.4406 after tumbling to $1.4337 late Friday in New York. The dollar strengthened to 80.66 yen from 80.58 yen.

[Associated Press; By PAMELA SAMPSON]

AP researcher Fu Ting contributed from Shanghai.

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