Nikkei 225 in Japan rises 235 points, U.S. dollar little changed

Lola Evans
05 Apr 2021, 17:29 GMT+10

Stock markets in Asia were mostly closed on Monday for the final day of Easter celebrations.
With Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan China out of action, it was all left to Japan to hold the fort.
The main focus was on U.S. jobs data released on Friday.

TOKYO, Japan - Stock markets in Asia were mostly closed on Monday, while most of Europe will also be on holiday in celebration of Easter Monday.

With Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan China out of action, it was all left to Japanese investors and traders to hold the fort.

The main focus was on U.S. jobs data released on Friday which showed non-farm payrolls rising by 916,000 jobs in March, well ahead of expectations of 647,000.

"Investors have reacted very positively to the strong data for U.S. employment," Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of the investment research department at IwaiCosmo Securities told Reuters Thomson Monday.

"U.S. bond yields rose shortly after the jobs data came out and that is boosting Japanese bank shares as well."

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 shot up 235.25 points or 0.79 percent to close at 30,089.25.

The U.S. dollar was little changed but remained strong in Tokyo in light trading on Monday. The euro was drifting at 1.1747 around the close in Japan. The British pound was reasonably well bid at 1.3829. The Japanese yen was friendless at 110.65. The Swiss franc was fragile at 0.9433.

The Canadian dollar traded in a tight range at 1.2585. The Australian dollar was listless at 0.7603. The New Zealand dollar drifted to 0.7019.

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