Stock market today: Asian shares advance ahead of US jobs report
Asian shares were mostly higher Friday ahead of a report on the U.S. jobs market, while several major markets including Tokyo and Shanghai were closed for holidays.
Oil prices and U.S. futures were higher.
The Japanese yen strengthened slightly against the U.S. dollar amid signs of heavy central bank intervention to tamp down the dollar’s advance.
The financial newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that estimates showed the government spending an estimated 8 trillion yen (about $50 billion) this week in trying to keep the yen from slipping further against the dollar.
The weaker yen has helped boost prices for imported goods, a factor behind the Bank of Japan’s recent decision to give up its negative interest rate policy and raise its benchmark rate to zero to 0.1% from a longstanding level of minus 0.1%. It might raise rates further, Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said in a commentary, even if its target of 2% isn’t met.