Asian stocks follow Wall Street higher after U.S. jobs data beats forecasts

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian stocks rallied on Monday, lifted by Wall Street's strong performance on Friday, while the U.S. dollar extended gains made after much stronger than expected June employment data. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.55 percent while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.7 percent. Australian stocks were up 0.6 percent and South Korea's KOSPI added 0.4 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1 percent, though China's bluechip shares were flat. On Friday, Wall Street closed higher after U.S. jobs growth beat forecasts. However, a lag in wage increases led investors to bet wage data would limit the extent of the Federal Reserve's hawkishness. The Nasdaq led gains with a 1 percent jump, while the S&P 500 added 0.6 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4 percent. Commodity Trading Tips

"Strong headline growth, amid poor wage growth, is seemingly a perfect storm for equities," Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG in Melbourne, wrote in a note. "Looking ahead, traders will continue to watch fixed income like a hawk for further knock-on effects into foreign exchange and equities," particularly with speeches by Fed Chair Janet Yellen and Governor Lael Brainard due this week, Weston added.The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield hit a two-month high of 2.398 percent on Friday. It was at 2.3909 on Monday. The dollar inched up 0.2 percent to 114.155 yen early on Monday, extending Friday's 0.6 percent jump on the jobs data. "The solid jobs report gives us more reason to expect the Fed to announce that it's prepared to start trimming its balance sheet," said Mitsuo Imaizumi, Tokyo-based chief foreign exchange strategist for Daiwa Securities."By contrast, the Bank of Japan is nowhere near a policy exit, and it's taking steps that weaken the yen," he said.The dollar index, which climbed 0.2 percent on Friday, was little changed at 95.992 on Monday. Nifty Trading Tips