Asian shares climb on fading US rate expectations

Hong Kong: Asian stock markets rallied Monday and the dollar dipped as a slowdown in US jobs creation doused expectations for an interest rate hike this month while at the same time showing the world`s top economy was still improving.

The much-anticipated reading on Friday showing 151,000 new posts in August was below expectations but indicated hiring remained solid.

Before its release analysts had marked the reading as a guide to the Federal Reserve`s plans for monetary policy after the bank`s boss Janet Yellen -- and later her vice chairman Stanley Fischer -- suggested a rate rise could come this year.

While most market-watchers suggested the below-par reading was likely to mean the Fed will hold off moving this month, there are still some who think a hike could come soon.

"Markets hardly took it as a bad number, with conjecture from both sides of the fence on what it means for the Fed," Cameron Bagrie, chief economist in Wellington at ANZ Bank New Zealand, said in a research note.

"Our take is that the (Fed policy committee) will continue to proceed cautiously, with a September rate hike a tad early."

In afternoon trade the dollar eased back as dealers digested the thought of rates staying low for the time being. The greenback bought 103.50 yen in Tokyo, from 103.99 yen in New York.

The weaker yen lifted Japanese stocks more than one percent in early trade but its strengthening through the day weighed on exporters and the Nikkei ended 0.7 percent higher.Hong Kong added 1.1 percent in the afternoon while Shanghai ended up 0.2 percent.

Sydney was 0.9 percent up by the close, Singapore climbed 1.3 percent and Taipei put on 1.1 percent. There were also gains in Wellington and Jakarta.

In Seoul, the KOSPI rose 1.1 percent, but South Korea`s biggest shipping firm Hanjin slumped 30 percent at the open as its stock began trading again after being suspended on Tuesday as it filed for bankruptcy protection.

It bounced back on bargain-buying almost immediately but still finished nearly 14 percent lower.

The company made the filing as it groans under debts estimated at more than $5 billion, the victim of a long-running downturn in the shipping industry caused by a struggling global economy.

The dollar dipped against higher-yielding currencies, with South Korea`s won climbing almost one percent, while the Indonesian rupiah and Malaysian ringgit also sharply higher.

Oil prices edged up after early losses but gains were limited after talks between Russia and OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia at the weekend did not produce any plans on addressing a global supply glut.

While the two spoke of working to stabilise the crude market, dealers were disappointed with a lack of detail ahead of a producers meeting planned for this month in Algeria.