Asian markets are on course to extend this week’s heady gains, following US jobs data that signalled the world’s biggest economy is rebounding, FastFT reports.
The US added a much higher than expected 288,000 jobs in June, the Labour department said.
Here is how Asian markets have opened:
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo is up 0.5 per cent at 15428 points. It has risen 2.5 per cent over the last five days.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong is up 0.3 per cent at 23593 points. It has risen 1.7 per cent in five days.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney is 0.6 per cent higher at 5523 points. Its five day gain is 1.4 per cent.
The Kospi in Seoul is flat at 2012 points.
Friday morning has seen some brisk trading in tech stocks, which tend to do well when investors feel in the mood to take more risk.
In Australia, the technology sector of the ASX lifted 1 per cent. The IT sector of the Nikkei gained 0.8 per cent.
In Taiwan, shares of HTC rose as much as 4 per cent after the smartphone maker said it returned to profit in the second quarter, helped by decent sales of its flagship M8 handset.
SMIC, the Hong Kong-traded Chinese semiconductor manufacturer, was also in demand. Its shares have gained 5.8 per cent after it announced it had been hired by Qualcomm to make chips for the smartphone processor supplier.
