Stocks upbeat, dollar wobbles as Fed hike bets recede

Business Recorder reported that Asian stocks started Monday on a firm note, the dollar eased and bonds steadied as traders scaled back bets on more aggressive Federal Reserve rate increases. The move followed a cooler-than-expected US jobs report, which showed September job growth slowing and sharp downward revisions to payrolls for the two previous months. Trading stayed thin with holidays in China, South Korea and Australia's New South Wales, so markets looked to Wall Street's Friday performance for direction.

Traders now put the odds of a Fed rate increase this month at 22%, down from 64% a week earlier, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Japan's Nikkei rose 2% early in the session, Australian stocks added 0.5%, and MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific index outside Japan gained 0.15%. US 10-year Treasury yields eased to 5.2643% and two-year yields to 4.8143%, though bond yields in major economies still sit close to multi-year peaks.

The euro rebounded off a 17-month trough to $1.1243, sterling inched up to $1.3241, and the dollar slipped to 157.81 against the yen. Oil prices remained high after the Houthi group, an Iran-aligned movement in Yemen, claimed drone and missile strikes on Aramco facilities in Riyadh and Khurais, with Brent crude at $102.20 a barrel and US crude at $90.75 a barrel.