[MARKET ANALYSIS] Asia-Pac stocks trade mixed as strong US jobs data supports the case for a Fed rate hike, while US and Iran conducted tit-for-tat attacks on vessels

APAC Stocks: Mixed

• Asia-Pac stocks trade mixed as the region gets its first opportunity to react to the recent strong US jobs data and subsequent Fed rate hike bets, as well as the US and Iran tit-for-tat attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

ASX 200: Flat

• Trades little changed as resilience in the energy, resources, materials and mining sectors is offset by underperformance in tech, utilities and telecoms, but with downside in the index cushioned by support at around the 9,000 level.

Nikkei 225: +2.2%

• Gapped above the 66,000 level with tech-related stocks heavily represented in the list of biggest gainers.

KOSPI +3.1%

• Outperforms amid firm gains in the semiconductor giants, including SK Hynix, which is said to be sharply increasing the production share of its sixth-generation 10nm-class 1c DRAM.

Hang Seng & Shanghai Comp: Hang Seng -1.1% / Shanghai Comp -0.2%

• Chinese markets lag with the Hong Kong benchmark led lower by losses in the likes of Baidu and Xiaomi, while the big banks are also pressured after reports that ICBC and AgBank plan large A-share placements to raise CNY 100bln and CNY 160bln, respectively, as part of Beijing's CNY 300bln capital injection in financials.

US Equity Futures: Rangebound

• Price action is lacklustre with index futures stuck around last Friday's troughs.

European Equity Futures -0.1%

• Indicate a slightly lower cash market open with Euro Stoxx 50 futures down 0.1% after the cash market closed with gains of 0.2% on Friday.