Asia steps cautiously into the new week April 5, 2021SharePrint Asian equities muted in holiday trade Asia is treading cautiously this morning despite the blowout US Non-Farm Payrolls data on Friday pushing Wall Street to an impressive finish. Greater China, Australia, Europe and Canada, to name but a few, are on holiday today, and volumes are likely to be muted as a result. Friday’s session was notable for what did not happen, then what did. The US Non-Farm Payrolls rose by 916,000 jobs, far higher than expected and broad-based across sectors. Going forward, we can expect one million-plus prints if the US vaccination efforts stay on track. US equities rose, but the rally was predominantly in the Nasdaq and not the Dow Jones. Longer-end bond yields actually fell, notably the 30-year. That dragged the US dollar lower and lifted gold impressively for the second day in a row.