TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S. stock futures and Asian shares advanced on Monday after a surprise recovery in U.S. employment gave further confidence of a quick economic recovery after many weeks of lockdowns aimed at controlling the coronavirus pandemic.
FILE PHOTO: A passerby wearing a protective face mask, following an outbreak of the coronavirus, walks past an electronic board showing the graphs of the recent movements of Japan’s Nikkei share average outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan March 6, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato
U.S. S&P500 futures rose 0.5% to stand near their highest levels since late February while Japan’s Nikkei opened more than 1% higher.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3% in early trade, with South Korea’s Kospi rising 1.4%. The Australian share market was closed for a holiday.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 2.509 million jobs last month – in contrast with consensus estimates of a fall in 8 million jobs after a record plunge of 20.687 mill