Tokyo: The US dollar held near four-year highs against a basket of currencies and Asian shares advanced on Monday, after upbeat US jobs data eased concerns over slower global growth.
Tokyo`s Nikkei jumped 1.3 percent, while Hong Kong shares rose 0.3 percent, as pro-democracy activists scaled down protests.
European shares were expected to rise, with Germany`s DAX and France`s CAC40 seen gaining up to 0.3 percent and Britain`s FTSE 0.2 percent.
MSCI`s dollar-denominated index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.1 percent, as the boost from positive U.S. data was offset by weaker Asian currencies and falls in Australian mining shares.
The US Labor Department reported nonfarm payrolls rose 248,000 in September, 33,000 more than the median forecast in a Reuters poll while the jobless rate fell 0.2 percentage points to a six-year low of 5.9 percent.
Stocks on Wall Street jumped more than 1.0 percent on Friday, with the S&P 500 posting its best day in almost two months to end at 1,967.90.
And the US dollar gained, as the data highlighted the relative strength of the U.S. economy to several other major economies, whose sluggishness has raised doubts over the strength of global economy.
The dollar index was down slightly on Monday at 86.636, still very close to a four-year high of 86.746 hit on Friday.
The euro traded at $1.2515, having fallen to $1.25005 on Friday, its lowest level in more than two years.
The dollar fetched 109.53 yen, near last week`s six-year high of 110.09 yen.
Shusuke Yamada, chief Japan FX strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, noted there was heavy dollar selling at 110 yen.
"The theme in the currency market at the moment is the divergence of economic growth... But the pace of the dollar`s rally may slow down a bit from now," Yamada said.
In thin early Asian trade, sterling hit an 11-month low at $1.5943.
The US Treasuries bond prices fell on the jobs data, but they quickly recovered most of the lost ground. The 10-year notes yielded 2.4448 percent on Monday, little changed from just before the data release.
While jobs growth was solid, some investors also focused on the small growth in wages. Average hourly earnings rose just 2.0 percent from a year earlier, suggesting limited inflationary pressure, which would give the Federal Reserve room to wait before raising interest rates. Interest rate futures markets, however, moved only a few ticks.
Federal fund rate futures are fully priced for a rate hike in July.
As the dollar rose, commodity prices came under pressure.
Gold hit a 15-month low of $1,183.51 per ounce. It last stood at $1,188.89, down 0.2 percent on the day.
Brent crude oil prices dropped 0.4 percent to $91.98 per barrel, threatening to fall below a 27-month low of $91.48 hit on Friday on fear of over-supply.
"My feeling is the fall in Brent has gone far enough - $90 is the break-even point for Saudi Arabia to maintain current levels of public spending," said Tony Nunan, oil risk manager at Tokyo`s Mitsubishi Corp.
"We are already underwater for countries like Iran and Russia" where oil prices have fallen below the level needed to meet spending commitments, Nunan added.
Elsewhere, among emerging markets, there will be a focus on Brazil, which will go to a run-off in its presidential election on Oct. 26.
Leftist President Dilma Rousseff failed to score a large enough victory to settle the contest in Sunday`s first round. She will face pro-business rival Aecio Neves, who made a dramatic late surge into second place.
Over the past month, the Brazilian real and shares tended to weaken when polls show Rousseff gaining as many investors believe a more market-friendly administration could help boost demand for Brazilian assets.
The real hit six-year low of 2.5070 reais per dollar on Friday, hitting the 2.50 mark, a level seen by some as fuelling inflation and increasing the chances of additional central bank market intervention.
