BEIJING, April 7 (BNA): Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher on Friday ahead of an update to the US labor market that traders hope will encourage the Federal Reserve to ease its plans for further interest rate hikes.
Acquired Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul. Hong Kong and Australian markets were closed for the holiday, reports the Associated Press.
Traders, worried that rising interest rates could push the global economy into recession, are eyeing US government data that is expected to show a slowing labor market.
They hope this will prompt the Fed to decide there is no longer a need to raise interest rates to quell inflation.
Other data “confirmed a clear trend that a labor market slowdown has begun,” Edward Moya of Oanda said in a report.
Economists expect Friday’s comprehensive nonfarm payrolls report to show that the number of jobs added by US employers fell to 240,000 last month from 311,000 in February.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose less than 0.1%, to 33,485.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.8%, to 12,087.96.
Benchmark US crude oil for May delivery rose 9 cents to $80.70 a barrel on Thursday. Brent crude for June delivery rose 13 cents to $85.12 a barrel.
The dollar fell to 131.72 yen from 131.77 yen on Thursday. The euro fell to $1.0919 from $1.0930.
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