Reuters - Share-price indexes in Asia approached 30-month highs Friday on market-participant hopes for a U.S. virus stimulus deal. There was some selling on weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data while mainland China markets were bought after a weeklong holiday.
Participants expect U.S. Democrat politicians to take back the White House - and possibly the Senate as well - in the Nov. 3 U.S. election, analysts said.
A widening lead for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is seen as reducing the risk of a contested election and opening the way for a big economic stimulus, helping to counter market participant caution about a Democrat pledge to increase corporate tax rates.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.15%, inching closer to its Aug. 31 peak, which was its highest since March 2018. China's CSI300 index gained 1.68% after China's Golden Week holidays.
Japan's Nikkei fell 0.1% after hitting a seven-and-a-half-month high while futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.47%.
"Markets are starting to assume a Biden victory," Citigroup Global Markets Japan chief foreign exchange strategist Osamu Takashima said.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said talks with Congress had restarted on targeted fiscal relief - after he called off negotiations earlier this week. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi was confident about reaching an agreement on the amount of aid in new legislation.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 gained 0.80% and the Nasdaq composite added 0.5%. The S&P 500 energy index led sector-percentage gains, rising 3.8% on the day - after a jump in oil prices owing to production shutdowns ahead of a storm in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and the possibility of supply cuts from Saudi Arabia and Norway.
"Biden seems to have a clear lead following the TV debate and a coronavirus cluster in the White House, which has raised questions about Trump's crisis management capabilities," Rakuten Securities' chief strategist Mutsumi Kagawa said.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll found Americans were losing confidence in Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. His net approval on the issue that has dominated the U.S. election hit a record low.
The November contract of Volatility Index futures dropped to 30.25 - its lowest in three weeks.
The 10-year U.S. Treasurys yield was up 8.5 basis points so far this week to stand at 0.779%. It hit a four-month high of 0.797% Wednesday, but has slipped in part owing to weak economic data.
The number of jobless claims in the U.S. came in 20,000 higher than economists expected at 840,000, showing unemployment in the world's largest economy remains historically high and a recovery in the labor market is losing momentum.
The World Health Organization reported a record one-day increase in global coronavirus cases Thursday, led by a rise in infections in Europe.
In the currency markets the dollar was on the defensive against most other currencies. The euro firmed to $1.1771 while the dollar slipped 0.17% to 105.85 yen. The biggest mover was the yuan, which gained more than 1% in its first onshore trade in a week, hitting a one-and-a-half-year high of 6.7165 per dollar.
Oil prices were little changed Friday after gains the previous day on output shutdowns and possible supply cuts. Brent crude was even at $43.34 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed at $41.21 after having added $1.24 cents, or 3.1% Thursday.
