Asian shares on Monday looked set to take cues from Friday’s stateside gains. With few data releases expected during the session, many investors are awaiting earnings releases from regional corporates later in the week.
U.S. markets closed higher on Friday despite jobs data for the month of December coming in below expectations.
Just 148,000 jobs were added in the U.S. last month, according to government data, compared to the 190,000 increase projected in a Reuters poll. Average hourly earnings were higher by 2.5 percent on an annualized basis.
Still, major indexes stateside recorded gains in the last session to cap off a strong start to the year, with the Dow Jones industrial average climbing 2.3 percent last week.
On Friday, the Dow rose 220.74 points to close at 25,295.87, the S&P 500 added 0.7 percent to end at 2,743.15 and the Nasdaq composite advanced 0.8 percent to finish the session at 7,136.56.
