Japan’s Nikkei share average surged more than 2% on Monday, supported by a weaker yen and Wall Street’s gains on Friday after a stronger-than-expected jobs report suggested the world’s largest economy remained resilient.
The Nikkei was up 1.9% at 39,354.63 by the midday break in a widespread rally, after rising by 2.27% earlier in the session, while the broader Topix rose 1.7% to 2,738.93.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by the most in six months in September and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, data showed on Friday, boosting global investor sentiment.
The latest jobs report raises the chance of a soft landing, and possibly earlier than expected, said Naka Matsuzawa, chief macro strategist at Nomura Securities.
“If that happens, that’s definitely a plus for Japanese stocks, which are quite cyclical and sensitive to the global economic recovery.”
The U.S. dollar rallied following the data, sending the yen down to its lowest levels since mid-August. This buoyed shares of automaker Toyota Motor, which rose 1.9%, and shares of other exporters.
Investor sentiment was also boosted after the Dow posted a record closing high on Friday and the Nasdaq ended with a more than 1% gain.
The Nikkei was edging toward the 40,000-point range, although it may be too early to try for the key level as investors await further confirmation about the U.S. economy’s outlook, said Nomura’s Matsuzawa.
The U.S. presidential election is also fast approaching, taking place in early November.
Financial shares rallied, tracking their U.S. peers, with Resona Holdings surging 7.6% to be the top percentage gainer on the Nikkei. Meanwhile, the Japanese 10-year government bond yield hit a one-month high.
Index heavyweight Fast Retailing gained 1.2%.
Semiconductor and other major technology stocks also performed solidly, with AI-focused startup investor SoftBank Group up 2.7% and chip-testing equipment maker Advantest adding 3.3%.