(MENAFN- AFP) Tokyo shares retreated on Monday as the yen climbed against the dollar following a worse-than-expected US jobs report, while oil prices climbed after Saudi Arabia said demand was picking up.
With several major markets shut for public holidays and Wall Street closed Friday, trading was thin with few catalysts to spur business.
In early trade Tokyo slipped 0.25 percent while Seoul gained 0.30 percent and Singapore was flat.
Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Taipei, Sydney and Wellington were closed.
The US Labor Department's monthly non-farm payrolls report on Friday showed just 126,000 new jobs were created in March, half of what was expected and the weakest growth since December 2013.
The figures hinted at a possible slowdown in the world's top economy and will make it highly unlikely the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates earlier than September.
Analysts put the weak figures down to the impact of a strong dollar, cold weather and falling oil prices.
The news weighed on the dollar, which has been rallying in recent weeks on expectations the Fed would hike rates by the summer.
The dollar tumbled to 119.15 yen Monday from 119.62 yen in Tokyo on Friday, while the euro climbed to $1.0977 from $1.0879. The single currency was also at 130.77 yen from 130.16 yen.
A pick-up in the yen pushed Japanese exporters down as it makes their goods more expensive abroad.
"We should see a correction in Japanese stocks as the stronger yen pushes down exporters," Shoji Hirakawa, chief equity strategist at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News.
"The US economy has hit a soft patch due to the stronger dollar and weaker oil. First-quarter earnings and gross domestic product probably won't be good."
Oil prices rose after major producer Saudi Arabia jacked up prices for all May sales to Asia, saying demand was improving.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 87 cents at $50.01 while Brent added $1.02 to $55.97.
Crude was also being supported by expectations that any new oil from Iran would not likely come on to the market for some time as Tehran's recent nuclear deal with the West is still to be finalised, meaning sanctions on the country will be left in place.
Gold fetched $1,216.34 against $1,200.50 late Friday.
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