Sawt Falasteen - Asia markets mixed as stong US jobs data temper rate expectations

The winners were again led by Seoul's Kospi index, the world's best performer this year thanks to a surge in chipmakers Samsung and SK hynix as traders turn to the region's AI plays.

Asia's recent healthy run comes amid a turn from Wall Street titans caused by concerns about extended valuations of firms such as Microsoft and Meta. A diversification among tech plays has also started to evolve as companies unveil new AI tools that threaten tough competition for some companies.

Investors have enjoyed a broadly positive few days, which have provided some much-needed stability after last week's upheaval that saw assets from gold and silver to stocks and bitcoin taking a battering.

They took heart from data on Wednesday showing 130,000 US jobs were created last month, more than double what was forecast, while unemployment unexpectedly dipped.

The reading soothed concerns about the economy that had been stoked by the previous day's report showing weak consumer activity.

However, it did suggest the Fed would find it harder to justify cutting borrowing costs next month.

"This was a solid report across headline job creation, unemployment, and wage growth, easing concerns over the health of the US labour market," wrote City Index's Fiona Cincotta.

"Following the data, the markets have pushed back on expectations for the next rate cut by the Federal Reserve to July, compared to June previously."

And National Australia Bank senior economist Taylor Nugent said: "One month's data does not make a trend, but for a Fed that saw 'some signs of stabilisation' in January, this data will only further solidify that assessment.

"There may have been some support from warmer-than-usual weather during the survey week... but it is still an overwhelmingly positive report."

Wall Street's three main indexes ended mostly down, with tech firms that have led a surge to record highs in the past two years again underperforming.

Asia started mostly up but stuttered as the day wore on.

Seoul rallied more than three percent, with Samsung up more than six percent and SK hynix more than three percent higher, with observers pointing out the chipmakers' crucial role in the AI revolution.

Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Wellington, Bangkok and Jakarta were also higher.

But Hong Kong, Mumbai and Manila retreated, while Tokyo was marginally down.

The gains pushed the MSCI Asia Pacific Index up around 13 percent since the start of January, the best start to a year compared with the S&P 500 this century, according to Bloomberg.

The dollar weakened against the yen despite waning expectations for an early US rate cut and the prospect of big Japanese spending after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's landslide election win.

Analysts said the yen's advance has been helped by the sense of stability in Tokyo caused by the ruling party's big win.

- Key figures at around 0700 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 57,639.84 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 27,013.35

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 4,134.02 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1864 from $1.1874 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3618 from $1.3628

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 153.10 yen from 153.14 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.11 pence from 87.13 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $64.71 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $69.44 per barrel

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 50,121.40 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 1.1 percent at 10,472.11 (close)

F.Qawasmeh--SF-PST