Japan: Nikkei extends gain on solid U.S. jobs data

The Japan share market finished higher for third consecutive session on Monday, 09 December 2019, as the market mood was buoyed by tracking Wall Street rally last Friday on solid U.S. jobs data for November and optimism over China-U.S. trade. At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average advanced 76.30 points, or 0.33%, to 23,430.70, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange grew 8.71 points, or 0.51%, at 1,722.07.

Total 29 issues of the 33 industry category of Topix index inclined into positive territory, with Mining, Oil & Coal Products, Insurance, Marine Transportation, and Iron & Steel issues being notable gainers, while Precision Instruments, Pharmaceutical, and Real Estate issues were notable losers.

The market risk-on mood was fuelled by the solid U.S. jobs data print. The U.S. economy added 266,000 jobs in November, according to figures released by the Labor Department. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, matching its lowest level since 1969. The White House said the labor market's renewed strength is evidence President Trump's economic agenda is working and tried to dismiss the Democrats' impeachment push as a political sideshow.

Investors also got some encouraging news on the U.S.-China trade front, with Beijing saying Friday that it is waiving punitive tariffs on U.S. soybeans and pork as negotiations for a trade deal continue. Also, Trump said on last Thursday that the two countries were inching closer to a trade deal. Both sides have less than 6 days to go before Washington is poised to impose even more tariffs on Chinese goods. Tariffs on another $156 billion in Chinese goods are set to go into effect on Dec. 15.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The Japanese Cabinet Office reported on Monday that the economy expanded at a 1.8% annual pace in July-September, spurred by strong consumer purchases ahead of an Oct. 1 sales tax hike. That was much stronger than the 0.2% growth earlier reported and marked a fourth straight quarter of expansion for the world's No. 3 economy.

Japan GDP Revised Up To 1.8% In Q3- Japan's gross domestic product was up to a seasonally adjusted annualized 1.8% in the third quarter of 2019, the Cabinet Office said in Monday's revision. That was a sharp upward move from the 0.2% gain originally reported last month for Q3, spurred by strong consumer purchases ahead of an Oct. 1 sales tax hike. On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, GDP was moved up to 0.4% from 0.1% in the preliminary reading. Nominal GDP was knocked up to 0.6% on

Japan Posts Y1,816.8 Billion Current Account Surplus In October - Japan posted a current account surplus of 1,816.8 billion yen in October, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday, up from 1,612.9 billion in September. The trade balance reflected a surplus of 254.0 billion yen following the 1.1 billion yen surplus in the previous month. Imports were down 15.3% on year to 6,285.9 billion yen, while exports fell an annual 7.9% to 6,539.9 billion yen. The capital account posted a deficit of 45.4 billion yen, while the financial account saw a surplus of 879.9 billion yen. The adjusted current account surplus was 1,732.2 billion yen, beating forecasts for 1,731.1 billion yen and up from 1,485.2 billion yen a month earlier.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Japanese yen, often viewed as a safe-haven currency in times of economic uncertainty, little changed against greenback. The Japanese yen traded at 108.59 per dollar from 108.59 per dollar on Friday.

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