Stocks in Asia and the U.S. ahead of the Employment Report

It was a positive day for stocks across the Asia Pacific region, stocks saw gains ahead of the U.S. employment report for April.

Let’s have a look at the Japanese stocks, that led gains among the region’s main markets. The Nikkei 225 added 2.56% to close at 20,179.09 as shares of index heavyweights Fast Retailing and Softbank Group each gained more than 3%. At the same time, the Topix index also jumped 2.21% to end its trading day at 1,458.28. 

Mainland Chinese stocks also saw gains on May 8. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.83% to about 2,895.34. In the meantime, the Shenzhen Composite added 1.172% to around 1,809.17.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.89% as of its final hour of trading. 

Moreover, South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.89% to close at 1,945.82. Meanwhile, the Kosdaq index jumped 2.11% to finish its trading day at 682.30. 

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.5% to close at 5,391.10.

On May 8, the Reserve Bank of Australia released its statement on monetary policy. According to the statement, the global gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to fall sharply in the six months of 2020. 

The U.S. employment report and stocks

This report is important and thanks to this report it will be possible to understand the severity of the problem.

 Moreover, in the case of the world’s largest economy, the situation is even more complicated than in less developed countries. For example, it took only five weeks for the U.S. economy to erase all the job gains it added over the last 11 years.

The U.S. employment report for April is expected on Friday.

The U.S. stocks strengthened their positions on May 7. The Nasdaq Composite closed 1.4% higher at 8,979.66. 

Moreover, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 211.25 points or 0.9% at 23,875.89. Also, the S&P 500 gained 1.2% to close at 2,881.19.