By Kenan Machado

Nikkei up on wage gains; energy, commodities shares rally in Australia

Shares in Asia were broadly higher early Monday, as weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data eased worries over an imminent rate interest increase by the Federal Reserve.

The Nikkei Stock Average was up 1.3%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 1.4%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.9%, while the South Korean Kospi also gained 0.9%.

The U.S. added about 151,000 jobs in August, a number unlikely to be strong enough for the U.S. Federal Reserve to move towards raising interest rates in September, analysts say.

Higher interest rates in the U.S. increase the chances of foreign capital pulling out of emerging markets.

Still, a return to stability in global markets after the Brexit vote could sway the Fed towards making a move on rates later this year.

"They (Fed officials) probably want to raise rates when Europe is calm and global markets are stable," said Hideyuki Ishiguro, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities. However, he said that any economic "disturbance" could prevent the Fed from raising rates in December.

Amid uncertainty over the timing of a Fed rate hike, energy and commodities-related stocks gained ground on Monday. In Australia, shares of BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) were last up 2%, while Rio Tinto Ltd. (RIO) added 1.1% and Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL.AU) rose 1.6%.

In Japan, shares there were also boosted by robust labor data released Monday that showed cash wages rising for the second straight month in July, due to an increase in special bonus payments. Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.TO) was up 1.2% with Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY) , gaining 1.6%.

Meanwhile, South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd. (117930.SE) was among the region's biggest stock decliners early Monday, with the company's shares at one point slumping by their daily limit of 30%. The stock had resumed trading after the company filed for court receivership in Seoul last week.

Hanjin's shares were last down 5.7% after falling to a record low of 934 Korean won.

Last week, Hanjin filed for court receivership after state-run Korea Development Bank, its main creditor, cut a financial lifeline to the troubled container shipping operator.

Also in South Korea, shares of Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE) rebounded 0.1% after their declines last week, amid troubles with the company's new Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.

The world's largest smartphone maker by shipments said last week it halted the phones' sales after customers reported their batteries caught fire during charging.

In early Asian trade, crude oil prices gave up some of their gains with Brent, the global crude benchmark, last trading down 58 cents at $46.56 a barrel. Gold, meanwhile, was relatively unchanged.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 04, 2016 23:31 ET (03:31 GMT)