Asian shares rose and the dollar steadied but remained under pressure on Monday, after a dismal U.S. jobs report led investors to pare bets the U.S. Federal Reserve would hike interest rates anytime soon.
Tokyo shares fell on Monday as weak U.S. jobs data soured risk appetite, but Sharp Corp. jumped after a source said it may spin off its LCD panel business and seek financing from a government-backed fund.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index backed away 37.10 points, or 0.2%, to 19,397.98
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index jumped 192.89 points, or 0.8%, to 25,275.64
Sharp jumped 6.1% after a source said it may spin off its LCD panel business and seek funding for it from the government-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan
The euro climbed about 0.1% on the day to $1.0981 U.S., moving well away from a 12-year trough of $1.0457 U.S. plumbed on March 16.
The euro suffered the worst quarter in its 15-year history, shedding 11% against the dollar on divergent monetary policy expectations between the Fed and the European Central Bank, as well as investors' fears about Greece's finances.
Against its Japanese counterpart, the U.S. dollar edged up about 0.1% on the day to 119.05 yen.
The Australian dollar inched down 0.1% to $0.7626 U.S., moving back toward Thursday's six-year trough of $0.7534 U.S. amid expectations for an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia later this week.
In other markets
The Shanghai CSI 300 increased 45.76 points, or 1.1%, to 4,170.54
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index eased 0.84 points to 3,452.91
The Kospi index in Korea eked up 1.01 points, or 0.1%, to 2,046.43
Markets in Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand were closed for a holiday.
