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STORY: Asian markets ended a brutal week on a relative high.
Japan’s Nikkei index closed over 0.5% up, after a day of big swings.
It has now clawed back almost all of the 13% crash on Monday.
That slump, and the recovery, trace back to U.S. economic data.
Monday’s jitters were caused by fears of a recession there, after some worse-than-expected employment data.
Friday’s rebound came after this week’s data showed U.S. jobless claims fell more than expected.
That caused markets to dial down bets on big rate cuts, which might have been needed to head off a recession.
Liz Miller is president of Summit Place Financial Advisors:
"Remember, our employment data is always backward looking and we're all reacting, trying to look forward. You know, that's difficult. But the unemployment claims come out a lot more often, and so they feel like they give us a better pulse of the moment. Eight thousand less people filed for unemployment than the estimate was, and that was strong enough to improve the market.”
Markets around Asia also gained Friday, with stocks outside Japan up about 1.7 %.
Sentiment in China was helped by higher-than-expected inflation numbers, which reassured investors the country isn’t about to slip into outright deflation.
On currency markets, the dollar held steady against the yen following the U.S. jobs numbers.
Moves by the Bank of Japan to downplay the chances of another rate hike have also sapped support for the yen.
