U.S. equity futures were steady and Asian stocks rose in holiday-thinned trading as investors assessed the Federal Reserve's policy path following Friday's U.S. jobs data.
S&P 500 contracts fell less than 0.1 per cent, while MSCI Inc.'s Asia-Pacific equity index added 0.2 per cent. Markets across Europe, Hong Kong and Australia closed for Easter holidays and trading volumes were expected to be light.
Investors are keeping a close eye on new Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda who will hold his inaugural press conference later Monday. Chinese military drills around Taiwan, following the island's president visiting the U.S., added to the sense of caution in Asian markets. U.S. payrolls rose at a pace of 236,000 in March, in line with forecasts, and followed an upwardly revised 326,000 advance in February. The unemployment rate dropped again to near record lows to 3.5 per cent.
“The Fed will still see the need for further cooling in the labor market,” Win Thin, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, wrote in a research note. “This week's CPI and PPI data are likely to underscore the fact that inflation remains stubbornly high and so we look for the hawkish tilt in Fed comments to continue this week.”
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