Title: Asian Stocks Extend Recovery Ahead of U.S. Payrolls Data

Aug 05, 2022 12:10AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Most Asian stocks rose sharply on Friday, recovering some of their losses for the week as investors turned their attention to upcoming US payroll data to gain further insight into the world's largest economy.

Taiwan stocks rose the most among their peers, up 1.8% at 2322 ET (0322 GMT). The index has been hit hard by concerns over rising political tensions with China and will end the week slightly lower.

On Friday, Chinese stocks rose slightly, with the blue-chip Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index rising 0.3%.However, tensions over Taiwan and sluggish manufacturing data led the benchmark to post a 1.4% loss for the week.

Asian stocks rose sharply from their weekly lows on Thursday as a string of strong US results boosted investor confidence in the corporate outlook. Investors in the region are now bracing for next week's earnings reports from heavyweights in China, Japan, and South Korea.

US non-farm payrolls data due later in the day is also expected to shed further light on the economy.

July's data is expected to have fallen from the previous month, indicating that the labour market remains under pressure. This is also likely to affect the Federal Reserve's plans to raise interest rates.

Shares of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (HK:9988) in Hong Kong fell 2.2% to 92.95 Hong Kong dollars (HKD) after reporting flat revenue for the June quarter, which also weighed on the broader Hang Seng index.

However, the company's results were slightly better than expected, suggesting some resilience in the Chinese economy, which is Alibaba's largest market.

Shares of rival JD.Com Inc (HK:9618) fell 0.6%, while shares of technology giant Tencent Holdings Ltd fell 1.7%. Tencent reports its half-year results on Aug. 17.

Philippine shares fell 0.2% after inflation rose more than expected to an annual rate of 6.4% in July. The data is likely to spur the central bank to raise interest rates further, which will also weigh on equity markets.

In contrast, Thai equities rose 0.1% after inflation in July came in slightly below expectations.