Taiwan Stocks Hit Record High as US Jobs Data Boosts Asia

Asian equities surged on Monday, with Taiwan's stock market reaching an all-time high. The rally came after a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report eased concerns about aggressive Federal Reserve rate hikes. The MSCI emerging markets Asia equities index climbed as much as 1.4%, while the region's currencies also strengthened.

Data from last week showed U.S. job growth slowed more in September than anticipated, with revisions lowering previous months' figures. This dampened expectations of a Fed rate hike this month. However, markets still price in a 68.7% chance of a December increase, according to CME's FedWatch tool.

Dilin Wu, research strategist at Pepperstone, noted that lower U.S. yields reduce pressure on Asian assets, supporting a near-term bounce, particularly in rate-sensitive sectors like tech. Taiwan's stocks advanced 2.7% to a record high, with semiconductor giant TSMC surging 3.2%. Other regional gainers included Malaysian and Philippine shares.

On the currency front, the Taiwan dollar hit a more-than-week-high, while the Indonesian rupiah slipped 0.2%. Meanwhile, Brazil's presidential election runoff between Senator Flavio Bolsonaro and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will take place later this month, following a first-round vote where Bolsonaro exceeded expectations.