Asian markets gain following strong US jobs data

Spurred by positive US jobs data, all Asian stock market indices were trading higher on Monday (8 August) with the Shanghai Composite up 0.50% at 2,991.67 as of 5.54am GMT.

The US jobs report released on Friday (5 August), revealed that the world's biggest economy added 255,000 jobs in the month of July. This was better than the 180,000 jobs that economists polled by Reuters were expecting the country to report and served as a sign of improving economic health.

"Hotter than forecast average workweek hours, hourly earnings and participation rate suggests this report was of genuine quality," Chris Weston, chief market strategist at brokerage firm IG, was quoted as saying by CNBC.

Strategists at Barclays were, however, not all optimistic. "The robust US labour market data raise the chances for monetary policy normalisation by the Fed, but uncertainties for the US remain high as well," they were quoted as saying by Reuters.

The bullish trend in the Asian markets comes despite China reporting a fall in exports for the month of July. Data from China's General Administration of Customs showed that imports fell 12.5% year-on-year, missing expectations of a 7% fall.

Indices in the rest of Asia traded as follows on 8 August at 7.17am GMT:

Last week (5 August), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18,543.53, up 1.04%, while the FTSE 100 closed at 6,793.47, up 0.79%

Among commodities, oil prices were trading in the green. While WTI crude oil was trading higher by 0.77% at $42.12 (£32.26; €37.98) a barrel, Brent crude was trading 0.66% higher at $44.56 a barrel as of 7.22am GMT.