Asian shares advance, snapping losing streak as investors scoop up beaten down stocks

Asia stocks snap losing run amid growth jitters

BANGKOK — Asian markets rebounded Friday, breaking a weeklong slump as investors scooped up beaten down stocks.

But sentiment remained as an overnight fall on Wall Street and a weak U.S. jobs report added to evidence the recovery in the world’s biggest economy is stumbling.

Economic figures from China and elsewhere have also showed signs of growth slowing, sending tremors through global markets.

Oil prices, meanwhile, rose above $76 a barrel, clawing back some of this week’s losses as Asia’s stock markets climbed.

South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.4 percent to 1,746.24 and the Shanghai Composite index rose 1.0 percent to 2,601.14. An advance in metals prices triggered buying in miners, which helped push Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 up 1.2 percent to 4,454.40. BHP Billiton Ltd. jumped nearly 2 percent.

The region’s two biggest bourses — Tokyo and Hong Kong — reversed early losses to climb into the green. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average added 0.4 percent to 9,253.46 and the Hang Seng index inched up 0.1 percent to 21,120.46.

Japanese auto shares retreated amid angst about the U.S. economy and the long-term implications of a strong yen, which hit a 15-year high against the dollar earlier this week.

The yen softened Friday after Japanese officials expressed concerns about currency levels, though it is likely to resume rising if the government refrains from intervention. Honda Motor Co. fell 0.3 percent and Toyota Motor Corp. was flat.

In Australia, shares of Telstra Corp. continued their descent after a disappointing earnings report sent the country’s largest telecommunications company down almost 10 percent Thursday.

In New York Thursday, the Dow Jones industrials fell 0.6 percent, to 10,319.95.

A weekly Labor Department report showed that the number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time rose last week to 484,000. The gain was small, but economists had expected the number to drop. The news pointed to continuing weakness in the labor market, yet another sign that the economic recovery is slowing.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.5 percent to 1,083.61, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 0.8 percent to 2,190.27.

In currencies, the dollar climbed to 86.07 yen from 86.06 yen late Thursday. The euro gained to $1.2881 from $1.2837.

Benchmark crude for September delivery was up 90 cents at $76.76 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract slid $2.28 to settle at $75.74 on Thursday.