Strong US jobs report boosts Asian markets, dollar

Asian markets rose Monday after a blockbuster US jobs report soothed any concerns about the world’s top economy. At the same time, the dollar held gains with traders scaling back bets on another bumper interest rate cut.

Oil prices edged down as traders await Israel’s response to Iran’s missile barrage last week amid fears of a region-wide war in the Middle East.

All three main indexes on Wall Street rallied Friday on data showing a forecast-busting 254,000 US jobs were created last month and the unemployment rate fell.

The reading was the best in six months and sharply higher than in July and August, which had sparked worries that the economy could be heading for a recession.

The dollar rallied on the reading as investors lowered their expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates 50 basis points for a second straight meeting when it gathers this month.

“The September payrolls print was meaningfully better than expected,” said Taylor Nugent, a senior markets economist at National Australia Bank.

“It was going to take more bad news for the (board) to match the extent of cuts in near-term pricing