BENGALURU: Taiwan stocks posted a record closing high on Monday while equities across emerging Asia booked their biggest daily gains in nearly two weeks, after weaker-than-expected US jobs data reduced expectations of imminent policy tightening.
The MSCI emerging markets Asia equities index rose as much as 1.4 percent, while the EM currencies gauge ticked up 0.3 percent to hit its highest since September 23.
The US jobs report on Friday showed hiring growth slowed more than forecast in September, while the figures for July and August were revised sharply lower, further reducing expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this month.
Swaps imply a less than 20 percent chance of a Fed rate hike this month. However, the odds rise to nearly 70 percent for an increase in December, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
“The falling rate-hike bets are mechanical relief for Asian risk assets in the near term — lower US yields narrow the rate differential pressure that’s been pulling capital toward the dollar all year… for equities, that supports a near-term bounce, particularly in rate-sensitive sectors like tech,” Pepperstone research strategist Dilin Wu said.
Taiwan stocks finished up 2.6 percent at 49,712.04, their highest close to-date. The tech-heavy bourse alone makes up about a quarter of the MSCI regional equities gauge. Semiconductor major TSMC surged as much as 3.2 percent to a record high.
Stocks in Manila rose as much as 1 percent, while Singapore shares gained up to 0.7 percent. Markets in South Korea were closed for a public holiday.
Most regional currencies appreciated against the euro , which slid to a 17-month low on fiscal concerns in France following a steep bond market rout.