GLOBAL MARKETS-Japanese stocks, dollar shine on upbeat U.S. jobs

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese stocks bounced strongly on Monday and the U.S. dollar held near four-year highs against a basket of currencies, spurred by U.S. jobs data after a week of worries about global growth and geopolitical tensions frayed investor nerves.

Tokyo's Nikkei jumped 1.3 percent while Hong Kong shares rose 0.3 percent, extending their recovery from falls last week when concerns about civil unrest in the Chinese-controlled city had spooked investors. There has been some signs of the protests fizzling out.

MSCI's dollar-denominated index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.1 percent, as the boost from positive U.S. data was offset by weaker Asian currencies and falls in Australian mining shares.

The U.S. Labor Department reported nonfarm payrolls rose 248,000 in September, 33,000 more than median forecast while the jobless rate fell two-tenths of a point to a six-year low of 5.9 percent.

Stocks on Wall Street jumped more than 1.0 percent on Friday, with the S&P 500 posting its best day in almost two months to end at $1,967.90.

The U.S. dollar was another clear winner, as the data highlighted the relative strength of the U.S. economy as many other major economies remain sluggish.

The dollar index stood at 86.636, down slightly on Monday but still very close to a four-year high of 86.746 hit on Friday, when it had risen 1.3 percent.

The euro traded at $1.2515, having fallen to $1.25005 on Friday, its lowest level in more than two years.

The dollar fetched 109.61 yen, near last week's six-year high of 110.09 yen.

"The theme in the currency market at the moment is the divergence of economic growth... But the pace of the dollar's rally may slow down a bit from now. The 110 yen level seems to be heavy," said Shusuke Yamada, chief Japan FX strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

In early thin Asian trade, sterling hit a 11-month low $1.5943.

As the dollar rose, commodity prices came under pressure, with gold prices hit a 15-month low of $1,183.51 per ounce. It last stood at $1,188.89, down 0.2 percent on the day.

The U.S. Treasuries bond prices fell on the jobs data, but they quickly recovered most of the lost ground. The 10-year notes yielded 2.4448 percent on Monday, little changed from just before the data release.

While jobs growth was solid, some investors also focused on the small growth in wages. Average hourly earnings rose just 2.0 percent from a year earlier, well below above three percent before the Great recession in 2008-09.

As limited wage growth suggests low inflationary pressure, affording the Federal Reserve room to wait before raising interest rates, interest rate futures markets showed limited reaction, moving only a few ticks.

Federal fund rate futures are fully priced for a rate hike in July.

Asia has little data to trade on, but one focus later in the day is on Brazil, where leftist President Dilma Rousseff placed first in Sunday's election but did not get enough votes to avoid a runoff on Oct. 26.

She will face pro-business rival Aecio Neves, who made a dramatic late surge into second place.

Over the past month, the Brazilian real and shares tended to weaken when polls show Rousseff gaining as many investors believe a more market-friendly administration could help boost demand for Brazilian assets.

The real hit six-year low of 2.5070 reais per dollar on Friday, hitting the 2.50 mark, a level seen by some as fuelling inflation and increasing the chances of additional central bank market intervention.

(Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

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