Stocks open broadly higher following big job gains in March

Asian stock markets were mixed and US futures were higher Monday after Wall Street rose to a record on optimism the spread of coronavirus vaccines might allow global business to return to normal.Tokyo and Seoul rose while India and Thailand retreated.

Stocks are off to a strong start on Wall Street Monday, putting the S&P 500 on track to beat the record high it set last week. The index was up 0.9 per cent. The gains came after the government reported last week that employers went on a hiring spree in March, adding 916,000 jobs, the most since August. It was an encouraging sign that the economy is staging a strong recovery as vaccinations accelerate, stimulus checks go out and businesses reopen. Tesla rose after reporting that it doubled its vehicle deliveries in the first quarter, and GameStop fell after announcing a stock sale. Asian stock markets were mixed and US futures were higher Monday after Wall Street rose to a record on optimism the spread of coronavirus vaccines might allow global business to return to normal.

Tokyo and Seoul rose while India and Thailand retreated. Markets in Europe, Greater China and Australia were closed for holidays. “Asia is treading cautiously” despite strong US jobs data and Wall Street's gain, said Jeffrey Halley of Oanda in a report.

On Wall Street, the future for the benchmark S&P 500 index was up 0.5 per cent and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.3 per cent higher.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 1.2 per cent on its last trading day before the holiday, closing above 4,000 points for the first time.

In Asia on Monday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 0.8 per cent to 30,092.74 while the Kospi in Seoul gained 0.2 per cent to 3,119.51.

India's Sensex lost 2.5 per cent to 48,759.17. Singapore advanced while Bangkok and Jakarta declined.

Investors have been encouraged by the spread of coronavirus vaccines despite rising infection numbers in the United States, Europe and other places that have prompted some governments to reimpose travel and business curbs. Friday's closely watched US government jobs report showed American employers added 916,000 more jobs than they cut last month. That was well ahead of forecasts of 617,500 and nearly double February's growth.

Also Friday, the yield on the 10-year US.

Treasury bond, or the difference between the market price and the payout at maturity, rose to 1.72 per cent from Thursday's 1.68 per cent. The yield has risen sharply this year, drawing money out of stocks, on expectations revived economic activity will cause inflation to rise, reducing the value of the payout in real terms. In energy markets, benchmark US crude lost 86 cents to USD 60.59 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose USD 2.29 on Thursday to USD 61.45. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 93 cents to USD 63.93 per barrel in London. It gained usd 2.12 the previous session to USD 64.86 a barrel.

The dollar advanced to 110.67 yen from Friday's 110.63 yen. The euro retreated to USD 1.1745 from USD 1.1773.