Shares in Asia Inched to a 19-month Highs

Asian shares eke out 19-month highs on Tuesday as the potential for economic stimulus in the United States underpinned the dollar, bond yields and Wall Street stocks.

However, markets are still shaky since experts says that it his highly likely that the Federal Reserve, will have two or more U.S. interest rate hikes this year. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen will have an upcoming congressional testimony later in the global trading day.

Japanese shares also ran into trouble after Toshiba Corp (6502.T) delayed an anxiously-awaited earnings release, including details of a multibillion dollar charge related to cost overruns at its U.S. nuclear arm.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average NIK, -1.13%   was down 0.1%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, -0.06%   was off 0.3% and Korea’s Kospi SEU, -0.22%   slipped 0.1%.

Singapore’s Strait Times Index STI, -1.19%   was down 0.9% after three days of gains, as concerns about bank earnings cut into sentiment. Oversea-Chinese O39, -3.28%   dropped 2.7% following weak fourth-quarter earnings. DBS D05, -2.96%   and United Overseas Bank U11, -1.52%   which report later this week, fell 2.1% and 0.7%, respectively. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, -0.10%   was up 0.4% and New Zealand’s NZX-50 NZ50GR, +0.22%   was 0.4% higher.

In the U.S. overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq Composite and the Russell 2000 all reached record highs which is a clear sign that Donald Trump is good for the economy!

Apple iPhone Ousted from the top spot in China for the first time in 5 years

Apple's iPhone has been toppled as the number one selling smartphone in China for the first time since 2012, this has made them "vulnerable" in the world's second-largest economy, according to a report released Friday.

The iPhone 6s sold 12 million units in 2016 which is about 2% of all phones sold in China, behind the "Oppo R9" which is the flagship smartphone of the Chinese brand Oppo Electronics. Oppo sold about 17 million units or 4% market share for all phones, according to Counterpoint Research. Oppo is one of the fastest-growing smartphone brands in China which has made its name through high-spec low-priced devices, being sold through bricks and mortar stores. This is the first time that Apple iPhone has been toppled on the top in China in five years.

The Cupertino, CA-based company has been having difficulty in sales for the last few quarters. From July up to September 24, 2016, Greater China revenue fell 30% year-on-year. Apple has been on a charm offensive, visiting China last year, and announced a $45 million research and development center in Beijing. Its market share has fallen from 14.3% in 2015, to 10.4% last year in China, Counterpoint said.

Apple has been squeezed by other players like Huawei and Oppo. Oppo and Vivo have released high-quality but lower priced devices and are aggressively taking market share. Oppo's shipments were up by 109% year-on-year in China, while Vivo saw a 78% increase. Huawei was up by 21%, but Apple was down 21%.

Gold Prices are Trending Downwards as Fed's backs gradual rate hikes

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen announces that she welcomes the hiking of U.S. interest rates gradually which has pressured gold prices. Spot gold was down by 0.1% to $1,202 per ounce by 0335 GMT, after dropping to as much as $1,197.31. Last Tuesday it has hit eight-week high of $1,218.64. U.S. gold futures had fallen as much as over 1% to $1,197.10.

The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, were up by 0.3% to 101.200.

Since the U.S. economy is close to full employment and inflation headed toward the Federal Reserve's 2% goal, it "makes sense" for the U.S. central bank to gradually lift interest rates, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Wednesday.

Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan on Wednesday joined the chorus of central bank officials making a case for a gradual hike in U.S. interest rates.

U.S. consumer prices increased in December as households paid more for gasoline and rental accommodation, leading to the largest year-on-year increase in 2-1/2 years and signaling that inflation pressures could be building.

Silver fell by 0.3% to $16.97 an ounce while Platinum fell 0.5% to $956.50, and palladium was down 0.1% to $747.70.

It Seems Investors Like Trump Presidency U.S. stocks are Up Friday

U.S. stocks closed mostly on a higher note on Friday as a postelection rally lost some steam. Losers includes Energy, health care and materials companies while Consumer goods, technology and financials stocks closed on gains. The S&P 500 index still had its best weekly gain in two years.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 39.78 points, or 0.2%, to 18,847.66. Last Thursday it hit a new all-time intraday of 18,873.6, and closed more than 200 points higher, with IBM and Goldman Sachs contributing the most gains to the tune of 34 points and 52 points, respectively.  The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.03 points, or 0.1%, to 2,164.45 still it's up 79.27 points, or 3.8% for the week.

The Nasdaq composite rose 28.32 points, or 0.5%, to 5,237.11.

US Dollar is down; Nasdaq hits new high

The U.S. dollar retreats Thursday amid investors doubt that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year. In the WSJ Dollar Index (US$ vs 16 other currency) was down by 0.1% to 86.297. The dollar went down against the euro, British pound and some emerging-market currencies but was higher against the Japanese yen.

Last Wednesday, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged but signaled it could tighten policy in the months ahead. Still, investors remain doubtful that rates will go up this year. According to Fed officials they want to raise short-term borrowing costs but have been repeatedly stymied by turmoil in global markets and a string of soft data, from U.S. economic growth to productivity. Even though reports about the U.S. economy is in good shape and unemployment rate is falling.

The central bank also has acknowledged that rates are likely to remain lower in the future as economic growth slows, which analysts see as a negative for the dollar.

The biggest question is why there are reports that the economy is doing great and umployment rate is improving but when it comes to the Feds the sky is falling? Maybe Donald Trump is right about the Federal Reserve, doing what President Barack Obama wants by keeping interest rates low.

U.S. stocks extend gains as Nasdaq rallies to record high

U.S. stocks climbed for a third session Thursday as the Nasdaq finished at a record-high close following the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep the interest rates low. The S&P 500 rose 14 points, or 0.6%, to end at 2,177 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 98 points, or 0.5%, to finish at 18,391. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 44 points, or 0.8%, to close at 5,339 after touching an intra-day record of 5,342.88. The Fed on Wednesday kept rates unchanged even as Chairwoman Janet Yellen hinted that a tighter monetary policy is likely by the year end.

- U.S. jobless claims drop to two-month low
- Amazon.com hits all-time high on analyst report
- Indexes up: Dow 0.54 pct, S&P 0.65 pct, Nasdaq 0.84 pct (Updates with close of U.S. markets)

U.S. household income up by 5.2% in 2015 but still poorer than it was 15 years ago

The Middle-class Americans and the poor American families have experience their first gain in eight years. The Census Bureau reported Tuesday, that the median household income rose 5.2% from a year earlier, after adjusting for inflation, or $2,800, to $56,500. The rise broke a long streak of disappointment for American workers but did not fully repair the damage inflicted by the Great Recession. The household incomes now is around 1.6% below the 2007 level, before the last recession began, and around 2.4% below the all-time high reached in 1999.

Officials at the Census Bureau said that the 5.2% growth rate was not statistically distinguishable from five other previous increases in the data over a 50-year period, most recently the 3.7 percent jump from 1997 to 1998.

There are some statistics that suggested that the year 2015 was strong for US workers. Just last week, the Agriculture Department reported their yearly data on hunger in the United States. It shows that food insecurity declined substantially last year for the first time since the recession.

Economic growth has lagged in 2016, but the labor market has remained strong, suggesting continued income gains. The unemployment rate declined to 4.9% last month. Adjusted for inflation, wages for full-time workers were up by nearly 2% in the first half of the year, compared with the same point in 2015.

The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index is down from last year.

Asian Shares Gave Varied Results Ahead of U.S. Jobs Report

Asian markets gave varied results Friday as investors awaited latest U.S. job data that could influence the Fed's interest rate policy. If there's a sooner than expected rate increase in September by the Federal Reserve, it could pull foreign capital out of emerging markets in Asia, according to analysts. Even though a December rate increase would have already been priced in by investors.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.9%, with the Nikkei Stock Average flat, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index falling 0.4%. South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.2 percent to 2,037.40. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.5 percent to 23,275.83 and the Shanghai Composite Index in mainland China slipped 0.1 percent to 3,060.06. Benchmarks in Taiwan and Thailand fell while indexes in the Philippines, Indonesia and New Zealand rose.

A report on U.S. jobs due out later Friday is likely to be the big market moving event of the day, though Asian investors won't get a chance to react until next week. Economists forecast that the nonfarm payroll report will show employers added 180,000 jobs in August, according to a survey by data provider FactSet. That would be under July's 255,000 extra jobs and 292,000 in June, which was an eight-month high.

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Google AD Business is Surging

Google parent company the Alphabet Inc. reported their quarterly profit that surge 24%, these surge is driven by consumers’ rapid shift to mobile devices.

The company said that more companies are continuing to buy more ads on its search engine and other products, while users due to mischievous Google techniques unknowingly clicked on those ads. Revenue, fueled by Google’s advertising business, rose 21% to $21.5 billion in the second quarter from a year ago, beating analysts’ average estimate of $20.76 billion.

With the continued increase of smartphones that are connected by internet more and more people worldwide are boosting internet use and in effect it is also increasing people who use the free services of Google and Facebook Inc.

Alphabet stock, which struggled and went down by 1.6% in 2016 through Thursday’s close, jumped 4% in after-hours trading. The company had recently struggled to meet investor expectations, with earnings missing analysts’ estimates in eight of the past 12 quarters.

Facebook, Google’s chief rival, also is gaining strength from mobile. Facebook said Wednesday that its second-quarter profit nearly tripled from a year earlier to $2.1 billion, easily beating Wall Street estimates. Mobile accounted for 84% of its $6.2 billion in second-quarter advertising sales.

While Google still controls about 31% of the roughly $187 billion world-wide digital-ad market, Facebook’s market share has risen to 12% from 8.6% in 2014, according to research firm eMarketer.

Shares in Asia Continue its Gains as risk appetite improves

Asian equity markets continue making gains and they are within reach of their 2016 highs on Wednesday as the anticipation of solid U.S. growth and likelihood that Japan may consider an aggressive form of policy easing to boost their economy brightens investors outlook despite the damaged done by uncertainty from Brexit.

The Nikkei Stock Average was up 1%, paring earlier gains, while the yen changed tack to trade 0.6% stronger against the U.S. dollar. Earlier Wednesday, the Nikkei had recovered all its losses from before the Brexit vote when the index was up 1.6%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose as much as 0.4% to 427.83, just below its year-to-date high of 428.22 hit on April 21.

Australian stocks added 0.5% and South Korea's Kospi .KS11 rose 0.6% New Zealand shares .NZ50 inched down 0.1% but were near a record high struck Tuesday. Shanghai .SSEC advanced 0.4%.

"A while ago, everything looked so uncertain on Brexit. But now that the UK looks set to have a new prime minister ... that is soothing investor sentiment," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management.

Britain's interior minister Theresa May is set to take over as prime minister on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Philippine shares .PSI reached a more than 1-year high and Vietnam .VNI scaled an 8-year peak.

In commodities, oil prices dropped after industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a surprise build of 2.2 million barrels in U.S. crude stockpiles last week.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell 1.2% to $47.90 after surging roughly 5% on Tuesday on broad improvement in risk sentiment.

Zinc CMZN3 touched a 13-month high of $2,210 a tonne and nickel climbed to a 10-month peak of $10,670 a tonne CMNI3. Aluminum and copper have also gained.

United States stocks rose sharply Amid Brexit Fears Ease

With the positive news that the polls are leaning towards Britain remaining in the European Union, the United States stocks sharply rose.

Asian stocks also traded higher and indexes in Europe were up as the latest opinion polls and betting markets suggested it was more likely that Britain would stay in the E.U. Britons vote in a referendum on the matter on Thursday.

The British pound rose sharply, and investors dumped ultrasafe assets like American government bonds, gold and utility stocks, sending those prices lower. Machinery and consumer companies jumped, and energy companies rose with the price of oil.

- Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index up by 12.03 points, 0.6% to 2,083.25.
- The Nasdaq composite up by 36.88 points 0.8% to 4,837.21.
- The Dow Jones industrial average up by 129.71 points, 0.7% to 17,804.87.
- Boeing gained $2.93, or 2.3% to $132.75
- Honeywell up by $1.14, or 1% to $117.06.
- General Electric up by 23 cents to $30.83.
- Amazon up by $7.62, or 1.1% to $714.01,
- Priceline up by $32.72, or 2.5% to $1,341.96
- Nike rose 65 cents, or 1.2% to $54.36.
- Benchmark United States crude oil rose $1.39, or 2.9% to $49.37 a barrel
- Brent crude gained $1.48, 3% to $50.65 a barrel in London.
- Chevron up by $1.04, 1% to $102.61.
- Marathon Oil up by $1.32, 10% to $14.48, company agreed to pay $888 million for PayRock Energy.

Bond prices dropped as investors moved money out of ultrasafe assets. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.68 percent from 1.61 percent late Friday.

The FTSE 100 in Britain leapt 3 percent and the CAC 40 in France rose 3.5 percent. The German DAX was up 3.4 percent. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index surged 2.3 percent. The South Korean Kospi climbed 1.4 percent and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng added 1.7 percent.

In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline added 8 cents, to $1.58 a gallon. Heating oil edged up 5 cents, to $1.53 a gallon. Natural gas rose 12 cents, to $2.75 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold slipped $2.50, to $1,290 an ounce. Silver rose 10 cents, to $17.51 an ounce. Copper added 4 cents, to $2.09 a pound.

The pound rose to $1.4684 from $1.4361. The dollar fell to 103.86 yen from 104.21 yen and the euro rose to $1.1305 from $1.1277.

U.S. Crude Reserves Fall, Oil Hits 2016 Highs

Oil has recorded near 10-Month high as U.S. crude stockpiles decline, U.S. oil inventories fell 3.23 million barrels last week. It was also affected by disruptions in producing countries like Canada and Nigeria.

Futures were stable in New York, it just recorded an earlier increase of 0.9%, after settling on Wednesday at the highest since July 15. Crude stockpiles dropped by 3.23 million barrels last week to the lowest in two months, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. A new wildfire prompted Canadian oil producers Cenovus Energy Inc. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. to shut production.

Crude has surged more than 95% from a 12-year low in February amid unexpected disruptions and a steady slide in U.S. output, which is under pressure from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ policy of pumping without limits. Militant attacks have hobbled production in OPEC member Nigeria.

West Texas Intermediate for July delivery traded 12 cents lower at $51.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 9:23 a.m. London time, having risen as much 44 cents to $51.67. Total volume traded was about 20 percent below the 100-day average. The contract rose 87 cents, or 1.7 percent, to close at $51.23 on Wednesday, the highest since July 15.

International Brent crude oil futures hit a high of $52.86 a barrel, and were up 23 cents at $52.74 a barrel at 0700 GMT. U.S. crude hit a fresh high of $51.67 and was up 33 cents higher at $51.56 a barrel.

Asian shares ends lower ahead of closely watched US jobs report

Asian markets are on the down trend on Friday as investors braced for the closely watched U.S. jobs-report that may influence interest rate decisions and the value of the U.S. dollar.

European markets are also expected to open for lower, with financial spreadbetter IG expecting Britain's FTSE 100 to fall 0.2% and Germany's DAX to start the day down 0.4%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.9%, set for a weekly decline of 3.2%, the biggest drop in 12 weeks.

Japan's Nikkei, which resumed trading after being closed for holidays ("Golden Week" national holidays) since Tuesday, lost 0.3% to 16,106.72 as the yen's strength renewed concerns about corporate profits.

China's Shanghai Composite index was down 1.6%, wiping out most gains for the week.

Hong Kong shares retreated 1.2%, that puts their weekly loss to 4.1%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.3% higher to 5,358.60,

Wall Street shares were mixed on Thursday, with the Standard & Poor's 500 index's slight 0.02% drop nevertheless sending it to a three-week low. Dow Jones industrial average rose 9.45 points, or less than 0.1%, to 17,660.71.

Economists polled by Reuters forecast Friday's payrolls data will show U.S. employers added 202,000 workers in April following a 215,000 increase in March, with the jobless rate holding at 5.0 percent.

But job-related data published over the past couple of days has been softer than market expectations, casting a shadow on expectations of solid job growth.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil lost 33 cents to $43.99 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 54 cents on Thursday to $44.32 a barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils, was down 29 cents at $44.72 a barrel in London.

Facebook Proposes New Stock Class to Solidify Mark Zuckerberg’s Control

Facebook is making major moves to ensure its founder Mark Zuckerberg remains in charge of the company. On Wednesday the company proposed a new class of stock named as "C shares", this will allow Mr. Zuckerberg to maintain control of the company. The new class of shares will enable the chief executive to protect and keep his voting power at the company, even as he begins an effort to give away the majority of his stock for charitable purposes.

Facebook said the move was “not a traditional governance model,” but it added that “Facebook was not built to be a traditional company.”

The company also revealed their first-quarter earnings, sales shoot up 52% to $5.3 billion from a year ago, Profit also increased to $1.5 billion from $512 million a year earlier. The company's profit was 77% a share, far surpassing Wall Street expectations of 62 cents a share.

First Quarter 2016 Other Financial Highlights

•     Mobile advertising revenue – Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 82% of advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2016, up from 73% of advertising revenue in the first quarter of 2015.
•     Capital expenditures – Capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2016 were $1.13 billion.
•     Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities – Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities were $20.62 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2016.
•     Free cash flow – Free cash flow for the first quarter of 2016 was $1.85 billion.

Oil Prices is Down as U.S. crude stocks hit record for 7th week in a row

Oil futures fell amid the rising U.S. crude stockpiles kept supplies at the highest level in more than eight decades. It renewed worries of global oversupply

Brent crude futures fell as much as 1.5% in New York after closing little changed Wednesday, 45 cents to $38.81 a barrel as of 0518 GMT. It ended up 12 cents in the previous session after touching a session peak of $40.61. U.S. crude futures dropped 53 cents to $37.79 a barrel.

Inventories expanded for a 7th week by 2.3 million barrels to 534.8 million barrels, according to a report from the Energy Information Administration. Imports and production dropped. Ecuador and Venezuela will support a cut to output at a meeting between major exporters in Doha next month, Ecuador’s Oil Minister Carlos Pareja said in a post on the ministry’s Twitter account.

But the increase was less than analysts' expectations of a 3.3 million barrel build after crude imports fell 636,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 7.4 million bpd.

Refinery crude runs rose by 414,000 bpd and refinery utilization rates rose 2 percentage points to 90.4 percent of total capacity, the highest seasonal rate since 2005.

U.S. Dollar is Up

U.S. Dollar were up to a one-week high against a basket of currencies on Thursday. The U.S. dollar index were able to hit 96.235, its highest since March 16. The U.S. currency was on the front foot after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard added his support to the possibility of more U.S. interest rate hikes this year.

U.S. Dollar was up 0.4% at 112.795 yen. The euro eased to $1.1171 EUR=, leaving it well off last week's top of $1.1342. Sterling GBP also slid to $1.4096 GBP= on concerns the attacks in Brussels would aid the campaign to leave the European Union in June's "Brexit" vote. The common currency has lost 0.8% so far this week.

Gold Prices Ended Lower Ahead of ECB Meeting

Gold prices ended lower on Wednesday, as investors worries about this week’s European Central Bank monetary-policy meeting.  It is possible  that the European Central Bank might surprise markets by giving more stimulus than is expected, since expectations are unduly low.

Gold for April delivery closed down 0.4% at $1,257.40 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Most market watchers expect the central bank to ramp up its bond-buying program and push interest rates deeper into negative territory at the conclusion of their monetary policy meeting on Thursday.

US Dollar Down Near 3-1/2-month as Yellen eyed for direction

The dollar weakens near 3-1/2-month low against a basket of major currencies on Wednesday, as traders awaits the announcement of U.S. interest rate guidance from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. It was also affected by fears of a global economic slowdown amid the recent falls in oil prices and growing concerns about the health of European banks.

Experts said that because of those difficulties, the U.S. Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates in the near future. Traders are also looking to Fed Chair Janet Yellen's congressional testimony later in the day for clues on the outlook for policy.

Against a basket of currencies the dollar was flat at 96.056 .DXY, having touched 95.663 on Tuesday, its weakest since October.

The low represented a 4.8% decline from its 12-1/2-year peak touched in early December when the consensus was for the Fed to keep raising rates this year, stoking a global capital rush of funds to higher-yielding dollar assets.

The dollar's fall has been most notable against the yen, which had been depressed at low levels over a long period because of the Bank of Japan's aggressive monetary easing since 2013.

The dollar fell 0.7% to 114.37 yen , not far from its 15-month low of 114.205 yen hit on Tuesday.

A fall in Japan's benchmark Nikkei share average <.n225> to its lowest levels since October 2014 helped spur demand for the safe-haven yen, analysts said.

Such weakness in Japanese equities could dampen Japanese investors' risk appetite and weigh on the dollar versus the yen in coming months, said Masashi Murata, currency strategist for Brown Brothers Harriman in Tokyo.

The euro were steadfast at $1.1295, they've hit a 3-1/2 month high of $1.13385 on Tuesday.

European Stocks Bounce A Little

Stock markets around the globe and oil prices has been pretty gloomy and they slumped to year lows last Monday. They are hit by continuous stress by shrinking global growth. However, European stocks has beat the odds and staged early bounce following last week's sell-off.

Since the United States markets are closed for the holiday (Martin Luther King Day), they don't have a chance to reverse the worst start in which main indices have lost as much as 10% in just 2 weeks.

Middle Eastern stocks plunged overnight, catching up with the fall across global bourses on Friday, while the prospect of a jump in Iranian crude exports after the lifting of sanctions against the country weighed heavily on oil.

Early Monday the FTSEuroFirst 300 index of leading shares was up 0.7%. Germany's DAX was up 0.6%, France's CAC 40 was up 0.4% and Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.3%.

Gains at mobile telecoms gear marker Ericsson and luxury goods group LVMH floated the FTSEuroFirst off its 1-year low struck on Friday.

In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell to its lowest since October 2011 and was last down 0.3%.

Japan's Nikkei lost as much as 2.8% to a one-year low before closing 1.1% lower. It has lost 20% from its peak hit in June, meeting a common definition of a bear market.

MSCI's emerging stock index dropped to 6-1/2-year low on Monday, and was last down 0.3% on the day.

Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.4%, however it was still down nearly 18% this month.

On Wall Street the S&P 500 .SPX hit a 15-month low on Friday, ahead of Monday's market holiday.

In oil markets, Brent crude fell below $28 a barrel LCOc1 for the first time since December 2003 after international sanctions against Iran were lifted over the weekend, allowing Tehran to return to an already over-supplied oil market.

U.S. crude also slumped to 12-year lows CLc1, intensifying the pressure on U.S. energy sector "junk" bonds.

Europe shares Are Up

Shares in Europe are more up beat at the start of trading on Monday, which uplifted by gains on US stocks and a weaker euro. The US dollar is up due to the jobs data last Friday which added more job bolstered investor confidence in the strength of the U.S. economy.

Share in Asia was lower since investors are showing caution on Chinese economic data due late this week which is expected to show the world's second-largest economy is still sluggish.

Crude oil prices held near their lowest levels of the year after OPEC failed to agree on output targets that could cut a global glut of supply.

Market moves this week may be muted as investors digest the European Central Bank's moves last week to stimulate growth and inflation, which disappointed many, and look ahead to next week's U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting, at which rates are expected to rise for the first time since 2006.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 stocks index .FTEU3 rose 1.3% as a weaker euro lifted exporters. Germany's DAX .GDAXI added 1.6%. European shares closed at three-week lows on Friday after the euro soared in reaction to Thursday's ECB decision.

Sweden's Electrolux (ELUXb.ST) was down by 11% after its $3.3 billion deal to buy General Electric's (GE.N) appliance business fell through.

Wall Street had a 2% gain last Friday that lifted European equity investors' spirits. That followed data showing 211,000 new U.S. jobs were created in November, which cemented already firm expectations the Fed would raise interest rates on Dec. 16 and was perceived as a sign of the U.S. economy's strength.

China cuts rates again to Induce Economic Growth

Central bank of China decrease interest rates last Friday. This the 6th time they cut it in less than a year. They also lowered the level of cash that banks are required to hold as reserves in an attempt to spur growth in its slowing economic growth.

Monetary policy easing in China which is the 2nd largest economy in the world is at its most aggressive since the 2009 financial crisis, as growth looks set to slip to a 25-year-low this year of under 7 percent.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said they lowered its benchmark lending and deposit rates to stimulate borrowing and spending without squeezing banks' ability to profit from the spread between two rates.

The change, which Beijing had promised to deliver for months, will in theory allow banks to price loans according to their risk, and remove a distortion to the price of credit that analysts say fuels wasteful investment in China.

China's policy loosening came a day after the European Central Bank said it could give a bigger policy jolt to the economy as soon as December to fight falling prices.

China is the latest of the world’s big economies to turn to its central bank to stimulate flagging growth. The Federal Reserve, with rates already near zero, expanded its holdings of government and mortgage bonds through last year to push down long-term interest rates. Now it is grappling with the timing to raise short-term rates.

China’s announcement came one day after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi signaled the ECB could do more to stoke growth and inflation in the euro-zone as early as December.