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 MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose
about 0.4 percent, while Japan's Nikkei stock average <.N225>
finished 0.6 percent higher. Wall Street logged modest gains ahead
of the holiday after two losing sessions.
Major European markets will be closed from Friday to Monday for the
Easter holiday, reopening on Tuesday. Most U.S. markets will be
closed on Friday when the non-farm payrolls report will be released.
It is expected to show an increase of 245,000 jobs in March,
following a gain of 290,000 in February.
Chinese shares added 0.8 percent, shrugging off mixed HSBC/Markit
China Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) figures. They showed
the services sector expanded in March but growth in employment and
new business fell to their lowest in at least eight months, in yet
another sign that the weak Chinese economy may need more policy aid.
"Chinese manufacturers and service providers both managed only
modest increases in output at the end of the first quarter," said
Annabel Fiddes, economist at Markit, adding that data "suggests that
relatively weak client demand had dampened growth across both
sectors".
BRACING FOR PAYROLLS
U.S. data on Thursday showing an unexpected fall in the number of
Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits raised hopes
for another strong labor reading, but not all strategists were
convinced that the consensus expectation would be met.
A weaker-than-expected jobs report would prompt investors to
increase bets that the Fed might hold off on raising interest rates
until late this year.
"I believe that the market is positioned for a weak number, so the
pain trade – the big shock to the market – would be a
higher-than-expected figure," Marshall Gittler, head of global FX
strategy at IronFX Global, said in a note to clients.
Gittler said a disappointing number could trigger a
bigger-than-usual move in euro/dollar, as most European market
participants will be absent due to the holiday.
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Against the yen, the dollar was nearly flat on the day at 119.67 <JPY=>.
The euro edged up about 0.1 percent to $1.0883 <EUR=>, after
rallying more than 1 percent in the previous session as investors
pared dollar-long positions ahead of the holiday weekend and the
U.S. jobs data.
The common currency shrugged off minutes released on Thursday from
the European Central Bank's March 5 meeting that showed monetary
policymakers agreed to "remain firm" in implementing their
quantitative easing program, even though the euro zone's economic
outlook was improving.
Brent oil fell nearly 4 percent on Thursday after a
preliminary pact between Iran and global powers on Tehran's nuclear
program, even as officials set further talks in June and analysts
questioned when the OPEC member will be allowed to export more
crude.
Spot gold was slightly down at $1,200.80 an ounce, on track to end
the week flat after a two-week climb.
(Additional reporting by Koh Gui Qing in Beijing; Editing by Simon
Cameron-Moore)
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