Asian markets mixed ahead of US jobs report

BEIJING - Asian stock indexes were mixed Thursday as investors waited for US employment data that could influence when the Federal Reserve will begin to roll back its stimulus.

Shanghai SHCOMP Composite Index, 0.84% gained 0.6% and Nikkei 225 NIK, 0.33% in Tokyo added 0.3%. Hang Seng HSI, 0.10% in Hong Kong rose 0.2%.

Kospi 180721, -0.97% in Seoul fell 0.8% and Sydney S&P/ASX 200 XJO, -0.55% lost 0.6%. The benchmark indices in Singapore STI, -0.24%, Taiwan Y9999, -0.88% and Indonesia JAKIDX, -0.44% rejected.

The S&P 500 Wall Street index added 0.1% on Wednesday, helped by gains in technology and communications stocks.

The spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus and disease control measures undermined hiring and consumer confidence. But that has reassured some investors: the Fed and other central banks may shelve plans to cut concessional lending and other stimulus that have supported stock prices.

The Labour Department will release US employment data for August on Friday. Wednesday's survey by payroll agency ADP showed that companies were adding jobs more slowly than expected.

"This seems to reduce the chances of a significant outperformance of non-farm payrolls in the future and supports the position that a Fed cut may not come until November," IG's Yip June Rong said in a report.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 SPX, 0.03% rose 1.41 points to 4,524.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA Index, -0.14% fell 0.1% to 35,312.53. The Nasdaq COMP, 0.33% climbed 0.3% to a record high of 15,309.38.

According to https://exness-ex.com/, economists expect US employers to have created 750,000 jobs in August, bringing the unemployment rate down to 5.2%.

The Labor Department data may help investors get a clearer picture of whether the Fed will decide at its September meeting on the timing of winding down its $120 billion a month bond purchases that are injecting money into the financial system.

Investors were receptive to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's comments last week that interest rates on assurances would remain low for foreseeable futures, even as the Fed begins to curtail bond purchases.

In energy markets compare US crude CLV21, -0.07% fell 44 cents to $68.15 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 9 cents to $68.59 on Wednesday. Brent BRNX21 crude oil, -0.03%, the benchmark international market price, fell 36 cents to $71.23 a barrel. It was down 4 cents to $71.59 a barrel in the previous session.

USDJPY, -0.01% was virtually unchanged at 109.95 yen.