“Remember that the Japanese population is dropping by probably half a million a year, so that’s telling you there’s just less people around, not that employment in itself is growing strongly,” said Harman.
In the rest of Asia, markets mostly rose, with South Korea’s Kospi up 0.38 percent. In Australia, the ASX 200 added 0.43 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.82 percent. Chinese mainland shares were modestly higher, with the Shanghai composite nearly flat at 3,071.36, while the Shenzhen composite added 0.16 percent.
Analysts said the market would be closely watching the August U.S. nonfarm payroll data due on Friday, as it would likely be the last major data due stateside before the Federal Open Market Committee’s policy meeting in September.
A strong jobs report could set the tone for the Fed’s monetary policy meetings for the rest of 2016.
“Investor odds of liftoff [in U.S. interest rates] are hovering near 70 percent for December and Friday’s jobs data will offer more information about the probability of a hike in September,” said Stephen Innes, a senior trader at OANDA.
Last week, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said in a speech at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that she was optimistic about the U.S. economy and that the solid labor market performance and outlook for economic activity and inflation had strengthened the case in recent months for an interest rate hike. Following her remarks, Fed vice chair Stanley Fischer told CNBC the August nonfarm payroll will likely weigh in the Fed’s decision on when to hike rates.
In the currency market, the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance against a basket of currencies, rose to 95.692 as of 12:38 p.m. HK/SIN, up from its previous close at 95.580. The dollar had climbed from levels below 94.500 to levels above 95.500 on Friday after Yellen’s remarks and briefly traded near 95.800 overnight before paring gains.
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