Traders work at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The benchmark Hang Seng index closed up 659.79 points to 21,506.09 yesterday.

AFP/Tokyo

Hong Kong stocks surged yesterday, bucking the trend in Asia where markets mostly paused after a two-day rally as investors bided their time ahead of a closely watched US jobs report.
Casino operators led advances in Hong Kong after a report said the government may unveil measures to support tourism in gambling hub Macau, while carmakers got a boost from cuts to the passenger-vehicle tax.
Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index ended the day up 3.2% or 659.79 points at 21,506.09.
But trading was quiet elsewhere as investors remained nervous ahead of US unemployment figures that could help determine when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates.
“It’s hard to say if Asian markets have been genuinely concerned by the payrolls report but there has been a modest risk off feel to today’s trade, although Hong Kong is seeing good buying,” said Chris Weston at IG Markets.
Data showing China’s factory output contracted by less than feared cheered Asian markets Thursday, sending equities and emerging market currencies rallying for a second straight day.
But the optimism fizzled in Europe and on Wall Street ahead of data that could help determine when the US central bank will raise rates for the first time in almost a decade, seen as a key test of the resiliency of the world economy.
Markets have been in a tailspin in recent months over concerns of slowing growth in China, the world’s second-largest economy and a key driver of global growth, which triggered the steepest quarterly losses for stock markets since 2011 in the past three months.
The turmoil in financial markets was a key factor behind the Fed holding off raising rates in September, but investors still expect the hike to come before the end of the year.
“US payrolls day has come round again, but amid a still lingering sense that it is global market (and) economic conditions staying the Fed’s hand at present, tonight’s September numbers might not be completely crucial,” National Australia Bank said in a commentary.
“Much stronger or weaker than expected data could of course instantly challenge that view.”
In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed barely higher, up 2.71 points to 17,725.13, despite news private consumption rebounded in August, and the job-to-offer ratio rose to 1.23, the highest such figure since 1992.
Investors remained cautious as analysts expressed worries that the world’s number three economy slipped into recession last quarter, after a raft of recent disappointing data.
While yesterday’s figures showed Japan’s consumption was better than previously thought, research house Capital Economics it still expects GDP to shrink as a result of falling investment and net exports.
Meanwhile, Japan’s jobless rate edged up to 3.4% in August, up slightly from July’s 3.3% rate, while a separate survey showed that there were 123 job offers for every 100 job hunters in August.
“Peaking of the ratio suggests an increasing mismatch between job seekers and employers,” Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief economist of Credit Suisse, said in a client e-mail.
“We think that rising job offers will not necessarily lead to any visible increase in the number of employed.”
Other Asian markets struggled. In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 1.18%, or 60.14 points, to close at 5,052.0 as all sectors slipped into the red following two-straight sessions of gains.
Seoul slipped 0.49% on selling by foreign investors, with the benchmark KOSPI down 9.64 points at 1,969.68, while Singapore fell 0.31%, or 8.70 points, to close at 2,793.15.
Markets in China and India were closed for a public holiday.
Oil prices climbed in Asia yesterday as a hurricane threatened refineries on the US east coast.