Asian stock markets gain ahead of US jobs data

By JOE McDONALD
AP Business Writer

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets are higher as investors waited for U.S. jobs data that might influence when the Federal Reserve starts to wind down its stimulus. Shanghai and Hong Kong advanced. Tokyo, South Korea and Sydney declined. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index added 0.1%, pushed up by gains for tech and communications stocks. The spread of the coronavirus’s delta variant and anti-disease measures have depressed hiring and consumer confidence. But that has reassured some investors that the Fed and other central banks might postpone plans to wind down easy credit and other stimulus that has supported stock prices.