* Dollar edges up vs euro, yen after recent battering
* U.S. nonfarm payrolls for Sept due at 1230 GMT
* Asian shares ex-Japan pull back from 5-month high
* Aussie shares at 5-yr peak for 3rd day
By Dominic Lau
TOKYO, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Asian shares pulled back from a
five-month high and the dollar edged up after recent heavy
losses as markets braced themselves for U.S. jobs data that
could decide whether the Federal Reserve will start withdrawing
its stimulus this year.
Investors were reluctant to make aggressive bets after U.S.
stocks ended little changed, partly on concerns that equities
have become overpriced after the S&P; 500 index’s run to
record highs last week.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
eased 0.2 percent, dropping from a five-month
peak. Technical charts indicated it remained in “overbought”
territory, indicating there could be a further retreat.
Tokyo’s Nikkei share average inched up 0.1 percent
in light trade, while Australia’s S&P;/ASX 200 rose 0.4
percent to a five-year high for a third day in a row and logged
a sixth day of gains, its longest such run since July.
Financial bookmakers expected major European indexes
to open flat to modestly weaker.
Analysts polled by Reuters expect U.S. nonfarm payrolls to
have increased by 180,000 in September, with the jobless rate
steady at 7.3 percent. The data was delayed from Oct. 4 by the
16-day U.S. government shutdown.
Many analysts expect the U.S. central bank to maintain its
quantitative easing (QE) given the as-yet-unknown economic
impact of the shutdown and the possibility of another bitter
budget fight early next year. A strong employment report,
though, could challenge that thinking.
“The common view in the market is that U.S. is essentially
trapped in QE,” said Andrew Quin, research strategy coordinator
at Patersons Securities in Perth.
“So at least until new debt ceiling negotiations get agreed
probably in February, we doubt they are going to do too much
with QE between then and now.”
A senior Fed official said it would be “tough” for the Fed
to have sufficient confidence in the strength of the U.S.
recovery by the time of its meeting in December to start
reducing its $85 billion-per-month bond-buying programme.
DOLLAR FINDS SUPPORT
The dollar was up 0.1 percent at $1.3665 to the euro,
off an eight-month low of $1.3704 marked on Friday, and gained
by similar margin against the yen, at 98.31 yen, adding
to Monday’s 0.4 percent bounce.
Against a basket of major currencies, the dollar
added 0.1 percent.
“A (jobs) reading anywhere in the 160,000 to 190,000 range
would probably be fairly neutral with respect to near-term U.S.
dollar direction given the data pre-dates any impact from the
October shutdown,” BNP Paribas analysts wrote in a note.
“We remain short euro/dollar and sterling/dollar heading
into the release, looking for gradual improvement in U.S. data,”
they said.
U.S. crude prices slipped 0.4 percent to below $99 a
barrel, hitting a near four-month low and adding to the previous
session’s 1.6 percent decline.
Gold softened a touch to around $1,313.6 an ounce.
