* Asia stocks up 1.2 pct on slower pace of U.S. job losses
* G20 pledge on stimulus also a positive
* Aussie hits 1-yr high, helped by upbeat job ads data
* Asia ex-Japan equity valuations near '07 bull market
highs
By Kevin Plumberg
HONG KONG, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Shares in Asia rose on Monday
after U.S. data showed a slowdown in layoffs, while Chinese
shares extended gains on hopes that Beijing will pull out more
policy tools as needed to support its volatile stock market.
Investors were also heartened after G20 finance ministers
and central bankers agreed to keep economic stimulus measures
in place for longer. []
Major European stocks were expected to rise as well, with
futures on the Dow Jones Eurostoxx 50 <STXEc1> up 1.1 percent.
The G20 outcome, in addition to Friday's draft rules from
China allowing more foreign portfolio investment, helped give a
broad boost to Asian equities.
Even though U.S. payrolls data on Friday showed the
unemployment rate jumping to a 26-year high, the total monthly
deline in jobs was the lowest in about a year.
Economists at Rabobank said in a note to clients that while
the worst U.S. recession since the Great Depression likely
ended in June or July, "it is likely the labour market will
then take several months to stabilise before positive jobs
growth resumes."
Analysts have noted that the strong relationship of stocks,
commodities and higher-yielding currencies rising together
seems to be weakening, which some see a a signal that some of
these trades are crowded just as valuations were looking steep.
The Australian dollar and commodity prices, which have
usually risen along with equities, were largely steady despite
the solid gains in stocks.
Japan's Nikkei share average <> rose 1.6 percent on
buying of technology-related stocks and large exporters.
Advantest Corp <6857.T> and other chip-related shares
gained, buoyed by broad buying of their U.S. peers after Intel
Corp's <INTC.O> chief executive said the need to replace aging
personal computers and Microsoft's <MSFT.O> launch of Windows 7
will prompt companies to start spending on PCs next year.
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan rose
1.2 percent <.MIAPJ0000PUS>, nearing the 11-month high reached
in August. The technology and consumer discretionary sectors,
which have been very popular for the last six months, led the
gains.
Some analysts have warned that momentum, rather than value,
is driving Asian stocks at this point, with valuations on the
benchmark MSCI index up near the 2007 bull market highs based
on prices compared with expected earnings one year forward.
That one-year forward P/E ratio stands at 15.1 after
reaching 15.41 in August, the highest since late 2007,
according to data from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The Shanghai Composite index <> of domestic stocks
rose 1.1 percent as investors jumped back into property-related
shares in the wake of Friday's draft changes raising the limit
that foreign institutional investors are allowed to invest in
the country's markets. []
After plunging 22 percent in August, the Shanghai index has
already bounced 9 percent after nearly five trading days in
September. []
BlackRock, one of the world's largest asset managers, said
it had already begun buying A-shares before the announced
change in QFII rules but that shift was a signal that Beijing
did not want asset prices falling too much. []
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index <>, which unlike the
Shanghai market is completely open to foreign investors, rose
1.4 percent, on strength in the large cap banks. []
U.S. stock markets will be closed on Monday for the Labor
Day holiday.
DATA BUOYS AUSSIET
The Australian dollar was up slightly on the day at
S$0.8522 <AUD=D4>, after earlier touching a one-year high.
The Aussie got a partial boost from data showing job
advertisements rising for the first time in 16 months in
August, adding to the signs of an accelerating economy that has
stoked expectations for higher rates in coming months.
[]
Short-term speculators on the International Monetary Market
only slightly trimmed their net long Australian dollar
positions, but slashed their net long euro positions and nearly
trebled their net long yen positions, data up to Sept 1 showed.
[]
Short-covering was thus likely to blame for some broad
weakness in the yen, traders said.
The dollar rose 0.2 percent to 93.20 yen <JPY=>, bouncing
further from around 91.90 yen reached last Thursday, a near
two-month low.
U.S crude for October delivery <CLc1> rose 25 cents, or 0.4
percent, to $68.27 a barrel. Brent was up 0.7 percent to $67.27
a barrel <LCOc1>.
Some analysts zeroed in on the more bearish parts of the
August U.S. payrolls report which showed the unemployment rate
rising more than expected, despite a bigger than forecast
improvement in payrolls. []
"As the long Labor Day weekend comes to an end, we're
looking at the end of peak gasoline demand season in the U.S.,
which means we're now entering a period of slack seasonal
demand with refineries scaling back their production," said
Toby Hassall, a commodities analyst at CWA Global Markets in
Sydney.
"High unemployment in the U.S. also underscores the
weakness we're seeing in the consumer sector, which will put a
handbrake on the overall recovery in energy demand even as we
see industrial demand recovering."
Gold in the spot market <XAU=> was down 0.2 percent to
$991.60 per ounce.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> were down
0.3 percent at $994.20 per ounce, after settling down $1 at
$996.70 on Friday. The contract rose to $999.50 on Thursday,
the highest since February.
(Additional reporting by Fayen Wong in Perth)
(Editing by Kim Coghill)
