ASIAN stocks touched their highest levels in nearly three years yesterday, basking in the glow of a record close on Wall Street after bright U.S. jobs data pointed to improving economic momentum.

    “It’s a reasonably quiet week on the economic calendar front so there’s little for traders to get apprehensive about and play it cautious so we could see the bulls stampede,” Capital Spreads dealer Jonathan Sudaria said in a note to clients, but he warned markets might be growing frothy.

    “It’s remarkable how negative traders are feeling about this rally evidenced by the amount of clients that keep betting against it and getting short,” he said.

    The U.S. dollar continued to benefit from rising U.S. Treasury yields, after U.S. jobs data Friday showed that nonfarm payrolls increased by 217,000 last month, bringing employment back to its pre-recession level and validating the view that labor conditions are improving. The unemployment rate held steady at a 5-1/2 year low of 6.3 percent.

    MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up about 0.3 percent, after reaching its highest levels since July 2011.

    Japan’s Nikkei stock average advanced 0.4 percent.

    On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 ended at new records. For the week, the Dow, the S&P and the NASDAQ Composite all added more than 1 percent, with the NASDAQ rising 1.9 percent.

    Weekend trade data from China also supported the view of a recovering global economy, with exports gaining steam last month.

    The yield on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries stood at 2.613 percent, up from Friday’s U.S. close of 2.597 percent and well above 11-month lows plumbed last month.

    Japan posted a lower-than-expected surplus in April, as income gains from overseas investments narrowed and the trade deficit widened. Still, it marked the third consecutive month of surpluses.

    Other data yesterday showed Japan’s economy grew 1.6 percent in January-March from the previous quarter, revised up from a preliminary 1.5 percent expansion due to faster growth in capital expenditure.(SD-Agencies)