Asia Stocks Jump With Won After Weak U.S. Data; Glencore Surges 

• Odds of 2015 liftoff pared as U.S. payrolls trail estimates
• Copper leads metals, commodities higher; China still closed

Asian stocks jumped with emerging-market currencies and commodities after U.S.employment and factory reports came in well below estimates, undermining the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year. Glencore Plc jumped as much as 72 percent in Hong Kong.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index headed for its longest streak of gains since July as all major equity benchmarks across the region advanced. Futures on London’s FTSE 100 Index surged 1.8 percent, while U.S. contracts fluctuated after the jobs data sent the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index 1.4 percent higher on Friday. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dropped a third day. Oil erased losses. Glencore jumped after reports the commodities trader is talking to potential buyers for its agriculture business.

“Rising optimism about a delay in U.S. rate increases will further bolster the sentiment for equities, especially in emerging markets,” said Chakrit Puechpan, executive vice president at MFC Asset Management Pcl, which has about $11 billion of assets, said from Bangkok. “Still, this rally may be temporary. Overall, global economic growth remains very weak and fragile, which will continue to push pressure on corporate earnings.”

The odds of Fed liftoff this month fell to 10 percent Friday as U.S. reports showed that pace of hiring slowed in September, wage growth stalled and August factory orders fell more than estimated. With futures traders not seeing an increase from near zero until at least March, investors are returning to emerging-market assets and higher-yielding currencies. Other central banks will be in focus this week, with Australia and Japan reviewing policy and minutes of the last European Central Bank meeting due.

Stocks

The Asia-Pacific Index advanced 1.3 percent by 2:22 p.m. in Tokyo, climbing for a fourth day and set for its highest close since Sept. 18. The Topix index in Japan rose 1.5 percent, also up a fourth day, while the Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 1.8 percent.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index in Australia, where there is no settlement Monday due to a holiday in Sydney, gained 2 percent amid trading volume about 60 percent below the 30-day average. South Korea’s Kospi index advanced 0.5 percent. The S&P/NZX 50 Index in Wellington rose 0.6 percent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index increased 1.5 percent. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, the third quarter’s worst-performing major gauge after the Shanghai Composite Index, added 2 percent. The measure of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong has jumped 5.3 percent in two days. Chinese markets remain closed until Thursday.

The Hong Kong surge by Glencore returned the stock to levels last seen on Aug. 31. Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co., and a Canadian pension fund are among those interested in buying a minority stake in the business, people familiar with the situation said last week. London-traded shares of the commodity trader endured an epic ride last week as the company worked to assuage concerns that the prolonged collapse in commodity prices is denting Glencore’s ability to make payments on its $30 billion debt pile.

S&P 500 Index futures were little changed. The gauge reversed a drop of as much as 1.6 percent to end Friday up 1.4 percent. The U.S. benchmark has risen over the past four sessions.

MSCI’s All-Country World Index ended Friday 1.2 percent higher to cap a three-day rally of 3.7 percent. The gauge slumped 9.9 percent in the third quarter, the most since the same period of 2011, as almost $10 trillion was wiped off the value of equities worldwide.

Currencies

The won led gains among Asian currencies, gaining 0.7 percent to 1,172.65 per dollar after touching its strongest level since Sept. 21. Malaysia’s ringgit added 0.3 percent after recording its 14th retreat in 15 weeks on Friday.

The New Zealand dollar rose 0.5 percent to 64.64 U.S. cents, after climbing 0.5 percent on Friday. Australia’s currency advanced 0.4 percent to 70.73 U.S. cents following three days of gains.

The Bloomberg dollar index, a gauge of the greenback against 10 major peers, slipped 0.2 percent Monday after dropping 0.3 percent on Friday.

Employers in the U.S. added 142,000 workers to nonfarm payrolls in September, the government said Friday, well below the 201,000 increase projected by economists in a Bloomberg survey. August’s increase was revised down as the jobless rate held at 5.1 percent, a seven-year low, as wages stagnated and people left the labor force.

The data saw bets on a rate hike at the Fed’s Oct. 27-28 meeting slide to 10 percent, from 18 percent a week earlier and 41.5 percent a month ago, according to trading in Fed funds futures collated by Bloomberg. It’s not until the March meeting that the odds climb above 50 percent.

“The Fed is extremely unlikely to begin policy normalization as soon as this month and December is looking tenuous too,” Philip Borkin, a senior economist in Auckland at ANZ Bank New Zealand Ltd., said in a client note. “At a time when the factors that appeared to stop the Fed from tightening last month are still lingering – fragile global backdrop and low inflation – the Fed would certainly risk creating some confusion and market volatility if it was to forge ahead with tightening at this stage.”

The euro climbed 0.2 percent to $1.1236 after rising 0.2 percent on Friday. The common currency advanced to 134.77 yen.

Portugal’s ruling coalition won 37 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections, securing 99 of the 230 seats on offer, according to figures on the government election website. The coalition had 132 seats in parliament before the election, and Socialists had 74 seats before the vote, which was Portugal’s first since it exited an international bailout program last year.

Commodities

Copper for three-month delivery rose 1.4 percent to $5,170 a metric ton, while nickel and aluminum increased at least 1.1 percent. Zinc jumped at least 1 percent with lead. Crop futures also advanced, with corn gaining 0.4 percent.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index rose 0.4 percent Monday, extending the 0.9 percent advance Friday as the weaker dollar buoyed raw materials prices.

Gold for immediate delivery slipped 0.3 percent to $1,135.04 an ounce after climbing 2.2 percent on Friday, the most since January. The prospect of a delay in U.S. monetary tightening burnished gold’s appeal as rising rates tend to see investors favor assets with better yield prospects.

West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 0.6 percent to $45.80 a barrel after earlier sliding as much as 0.7 percent, while Brent rose 0.3 percent to $48.29. Data Friday showed a reduction in the number of rigs drilling for crude in the U.S., signaling output cuts in the world’s biggest consumer.

Futures climbed as much as 0.5 percent in New York, extending Friday’s 1.8 percent advance. The number of active rigs fell by 26 to 614 last week, a five-year low, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc., an oil-field services company.

Source: Bloomberg – Asia Stocks Jump With Won After Weak U.S. Data; Glencore Surges

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