Asian stocks jump on hopes Fed will stay rates

Asian equity markets opened higher on Monday after a weak US jobs report fuelled speculation that the world's number one economy isn't ready for an interest rate hike any time soon.

The positive movement also came off the back of news that officials negotiating an ambitious Pacific trade pact were inching closer to announcing a deal.

Markets across Asia tracked Friday's surge on Wall Street after a September unemployment report increased the likelihood the US Federal Reserve will keep key interest rates near zero for longer.

A rate hike delay would give global stock markets a bit of breathing room after having suffered their worst quarter since 2011, analysts said.

"The Fed is extremely unlikely to begin policy normalisation as soon as this month and December is looking tenuous too," Philip Borkin, a senior economist in Auckland at ANZ, said in a client note.

Investors are also eyeing upcoming central bank meetings in Australia and Japan.

Speculation is growing that an economic downturn in Japan will force policy makers in Tokyo to increase stimulus measures.

Talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which, if successful will create the world's largest free trade zone, were extended to Monday, as the 12-nation bloc pushed to get a long-awaited deal.

But earlier in the day, Japan's Economy Minister Akira Amari told reporters "major progress" had been made.

"We are making preparations now to announce a deal in principle this afternoon," Amari said, according to a translation of his remarks supplied by Japanese journalists.

- Wall Street rally -

Regional players were given a positive lead from New York, where the three main indices ended last week with strong gains after a late afternoon rally, despite the release of the disappointing jobs data.

The Dow climbed 1.23 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 1.43 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.74 percent.

In Asian markets Tokyo gained 1.13 percent during Monday morning trade, Sydney was 1.66 percent higher, Seoul rose 1.18 percent and Singapore added 1.30 percent.

Hong Kong stocks had jumped 1.90 by mid-morning, extending a rally from last week, after a report said China's government will roll out more financial policies to support Macau.

Shanghai was closed for a public holiday.

On the currency markets, the dollar faced selling pressure against major currencies but still strengthened against most of its Asia-Pacific peers, as concerns over emergency economies remained.

The US unit was trading at 119.93 yen in Tokyo, barely changed from the back end of last week.

The euro traded at $1.1243 and 134.81 yen in Tokyo from $1.1219 and 134.53 yen in US trade.

The Singapore dollar fell by 0.05 percent from Friday against the US unit, the South Korean won fell 0.59 percent and the Taiwan dollar lost 0.61 percent.

The Indian rupee fell 0.12 percent and the Indonesian rupiah declined 0.03 percent but the Thai baht rose 0.14 percent.

-- Bloomberg News contributed to this report --