Dollar gains, Japan shares rise on upbeat U.S. jobs data

By Dominic Lau

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese shares rose on Monday and the dollar hit a three-year high against a basket of major currencies after U.S. job creation accelerated in June, signaling growth in the world's largest economy is gathering momentum.

U.S. employers added 195,000 new jobs to their payrolls last month, beating expectations of 165,000. Adding to the positive sentiment, the figures for April and May were revised up by a combined 70,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 7.6 percent as more people entered the workforce.

The stronger-than-expected jobs growth increases the likelihood that the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin scaling back its $85 billion a month bond-buying program in coming months, however.

Friday's sharp selloff in Treasuries - with the 10-year yield suffering its biggest one-day rise in nearly two years - accelerated losses that started in May over the uncertainty of the Fed's stimulus program.

Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasuries, which move opposite to price, ticked up 1.3 basis points to 2.7496 percent after they jumped 23.3 basis points on Friday, hitting their highest since August 2011, driving up U.S. dollar borrowing costs.

"I don't think it's negative for Japan," said a hedge fund manager, who declined to be identified. "For ASEAN countries, it is more of a concern if rates continue to go up. A lot of the funding for some of these countries is dollar-denominated."

Asian shares, as measured by MSCI's Asia-Pacific ex-Japan index <.miapj0000pus>, eased 0.3 percent, while Tokyo's Nikkei share average <.n225> advanced 1.1 percent and Australian shares <.axjo> dipped 0.1 percent.

The selloff in Treasuries also weighed on Japanese government bonds on Monday, with the 10-year yield up 2.5 basis points to 0.88 percent.

"We believe steady improvement in labor market conditions will be enough for the Fed to start tapering its asset purchases in September," Barclays Capital analysts wrote in a report.

The dollar was buoyed by the upbeat data. It hit a six-week high of 101.54 yen after gaining 1.2 percent on Friday, its biggest one-day rise in a month.

Against a basket of major currencies, the dollar <.dxy> advanced 1.5 percent to a three-year high.

The euro was steady at $1.2824 but not far off a seven-week low of $1.2806. The common currency dropped 1.4 percent in the previous two sessions on the U.S. jobs data and the European Central Bank's dovish policy guidance.

Brent crude prices added 0.2 percent to near $108 a barrel, extending Friday's 2.1 percent rise on the strong U.S. data and concerns over Egypt's unrest increasing instability in the Middle East.

Copper prices was steady at below $6,800 a metric ton (1.1023 tons) after shedding 2.3 percent in the previous session as the dollar firmed, while gold eased 0.3 percent, extending Friday's 2 percent decline.

(Additional reporting by Ian Chua in Sydney; Editing by Eric Meijer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dollar-gains-japan-shares-rise-upbeat-u-jobs-002951802.html

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