SINGAPORE, Sept 8 - Japan appeared to intervene to weaken the yen on Monday after poor U.S. jobs data undermined the dollar, traders said, but technology stocks shrugged off the disappointing economic news to score big gains. Tokyo shares edged back towards 14-month highs on hopes for good Japanese economic indicators this week, with top consumer electronics company Sony Corp <6758.T> jumping five percent. An MSCI index of shares elsewhere in Asia Pacific <.MSCIAPJ> continued to touch levels unseen since early 2001, despite falls in Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore.
"No-one's wanting to miss out on the gravy train, so they're all getting on board," said Lucinda Chan, private client adviser at Macquarie Equities in Australia, where the benchmark index <.AXJO> rose half a percent. "The market is positive, the confidence is there. All the earnings to date have been fantastic." The yen slipped nearly one percent against the dollar and euro in early trade amid persistent talk of fresh intervention by the Japanese authorities. But it soon began to creep back up in the absence of official confirmation or further evidence of central bank action. The yen fell towards 117.75 to the dollar , compared with 116.80 in late New York trade on Friday and 3-1/2-month highs around 115.75 set last week. But by 0600 GMT, the yen had clawed back up to around 117.30 to the dollar.
The Japanese currency also fell beyond 130 to the euro for the first time in more than two weeks. The euro was steady against the dollar just below $1.11 , holding onto gains made on Friday on the weak U.S. jobs data.
TREASURIES FALL
Friday's U.S. jobs report showed non-farm payrolls fell 93,000 versus forecasts for a 12,000 rise, while the jobless rate declined to 6.1 percent from 6.2 percent, when no change was expected. U.S. Treasuries had gained on the data, but eased in Asian trade after President George W. Bush rekindled worries about the growing U.S. fiscal deficit when he asked Congress for $87 billion to fund post-war operations in Iraq. Japanese government bonds were also weaker. Spot Gold extended its fall off seven-month highs hit last week, losing about $1 an ounce to $375.75. U.S. light crude oil rose two-thirds of a percent to $29.07 a barrel. The job data weakened U.S. stocks on Friday, with a knock-on effect on shares in Hong Kong <.HSI>, South Korea <.KS11> and Singapore <.STI>. Seoul closed 0.2 percent lower, while Hong Kong and Singapore were 0.7 percent and 0.6 percent weaker by their lunch breaks. But Tokyo's Nikkei average closed up 0.3 percent at 10,683.76 and MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares excluding Japan climbed two-thirds of a percent, led by a two percent jump in its technology component <.MSCIAPJIT>. Tech stocks have been strong since a bullish revenue forecast from sector bellwether Intel Corp last week. Japanese shares gained on hopes that a string of data this week will reinforce signs of a brighter outlook for the economy, although worries the market was overheating pulled stocks off their highs.
The economic optimism was reflected in gains in bank shares such as Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group <8316.T>, which rose 4.7 percent. Japanese data due out this week includes July machinery orders, a gauge of capital spending, on Tuesday, followed by revised gross domestic product (GDP) data for April to June on Wednesday. "There's a very good chance that GDP data will be revised up this week, which could prove the trigger for a charge towards 11,000 by the Nikkei," said Koji Muneoka, head of domestic sales trading at HSBC Securities. Taiwan <.TWII> rose 1.6 percent to a 15-month high, helped by gains of 4.4 percent in contract chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co <2330.TW> and 5.7 percent in rival United Microelectronics Corp <2303.TW>. //