Asian shares bounce back from 4-week lows

Dollar rises against euro, yen as US jobs growth signals recovery

Asian shares edged away from a four-week low on Monday, while the dollar rose against the euro and yen as a surprise surge in US jobs growth signalled the world's largest economy was on a firmer footing.

US employers took on 204,000 new employees last month, almost twice the number forecast by analysts and defying expectations that the partial US government shutdown would hamper job growth.

The strong data raised the prospect the Federal Reserve may soon decide to start winding down its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying programme.

But Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and two other top policymakers suggested continued support for the US central bank's massive stimulus campaign.

Adding to the positive sentiment, China's factory output and investment data pointed to signs of stabilisation in the economy, though annual inflation climbed to an eight-month high in October, fuelling market worries about policy tightening.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.1% after shedding 1% on Friday to a four-week low.

Australian shares firmed after the robust Chinese data, reflecting the countries' strong trade. The S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.4%, while the Australian dollar stabilised at $0.9373, having fallen 0.8% in the previous session.

The dollar was up 0.1% at 99.16 yen, not far from a seven-week high of 99.41 yen reached last Thursday, and up 0.1% at $1.3353 to the euro, having gained 0.4% on Friday.

Against a basket of major currencies, the dollar stood at 81.295, not far from a two-month high of 81.482 touched on Friday.

"The full suite of new data and information balances the risk more evenly for our call for Fed tapering to begin in March. Previously it seemed March was the earliest the Fed would taper owing to the weaker hiring trends," analysts at BNP Paribas wrote in a note.

"However, neither GDP nor employment has slowed as much as we previously estimated or feared. Yet Fed speakers have emphasised the need to see an acceleration in hiring, GDP growth and inflation before it begins to taper its bond-buying programme."

NIKKEI ADVANCES

As the yen weakened, Japan's Nikkei benchmark climbed 1.5% after losing 0.8% last week.

US S&P E-mini futures dipped 0.1% after the Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 1.3% on Friday.

US Treasury futures eased 2 ticks after the 10-year US Treasury yield rose as much as 15 basis points to a four-week high of 2.763% on Friday.

Among commodities, gold slipped 0.1% to about $1,286 an ounce, adding to Friday's 1.5% decline and languishing near a three-week low.

Brent crude prices rose 0.4% to around $105.5 a barrel, building on Friday's 1.6% rise, which broke a three-day run of losses.