The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.4% to a record. The gauge is up around 13% so far this year, its best start to the year relative to the S&P 500 this century, as the region’s assets head for another strong year. Japanese shares advanced as markets returned after a holiday.

Treasuries dropped with the yield on the 10-year bond rising to 4.18% as traders pared bets on interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year following the jobs numbers. The latest data showed 130,000 roles added in January, twice the median forecast, as money markets priced in the Fed’s next cut in July, from June previously.

The moves signaled that for now, strength in the US economy counterbalances the desire for lower borrowing costs, supporting risk sentiment that has itself taken a battering over AI concerns in recent weeks. The next key hurdle for markets is Friday’s US inflation report, which could reinforce the case for keeping rates higher for longer if price pressures fail to ease.

“The report will ease concerns around the consumer,” wrote Krishna Guha at Evercore, referring to US jobs data. “It pours cold water on the idea the Fed could cut rates again before mid-year and will fuel internal debate as to how restrictive policy is and how much slack there is in the labor market.”

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The S&P 500 ended Wednesday flat after a bumpy session with real estate services stocks getting hit, while the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3%. In late hours, Cisco Systems Inc. gave a tepid margin forecast, overshadowing a generally positive outlook fueled by artificial-intelligence gains. McDonald’s Corp.’s US sales grew at the fastest pace in more than two years.
Elsewhere, gold and silver edged lower, while Bitcoin declined to trade around $67,000. The dollar held its losses, benefiting the yen, which touched a two-week high. In commodities, oil rose as tensions in the Middle East outweighed concerns that there’s a supply glut growing. Nickel extended gains after Indonesia signaled a sharp cut to output this year, curbing supply from the world’s biggest mine.

Concerns about rising unemployment that led to three rate cuts late in 2025 — before a pause in January — were likely eased by Wednesday’s data. At last month’s policy meeting, Fed officials had already cited signs of stabilization as a reason to hold rates steady.

US payrolls rose in January by the most in more than a year and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell, suggesting the labor market continued to stabilize.

Elsewhere, the Canadian dollar was little changed after the Republican-led US House passed legislation aimed at ending President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada.

A stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report overnight briefly lifted the greenback. But traders are taking recent signs of U.S. economic resilience as cues for a broader brightening in global growth and are laying bets on Japan as a likely winner.

The ‌yen is up ⁠more ⁠than 2.6% since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party swept to a landslide victory at Sunday’s election and a mood shift ​seems to be afoot as markets set aside fears about spending to focus on growth.

Against the dollar, the yen ​traded as strong as 152.55 on Wednesday, before steadying slightly below that at 153.05 per dollar on Thursday. The rebound is nascent – since the yen has been declining for years – but it has been big enough ​to turn heads in the market.

“It’s Japan buying,” said Naka Matsuzawa, ⁠chief strategist ‌at Nomura Securities in Tokyo, with the yen – rather than the euro – turning ​into the favoured ​avenue for investing outside the U.S.

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“Foreigners are buying both stocks and bonds,” he said.
“With ⁠a stronger government, the market hopes for higher growth.”Yen gains could ​easily accelerate, analysts said, if it broke past resistance around 152 per ​dollar, or even the 200-day moving average at 150.5. It has also made headway against crosses, rising 2% on the euro in two sessions and breaking to the strong side of a 50-day moving average.

Overnight data showed U.S. job growth unexpectedly accelerated in January and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3%. A survey published earlier in the month showed a surprise rebound in U.S. factory activity in January.

Thursday morning moves ‌were fairly small, but the Australian dollar was above 71 cents and creeping back towards a three-year top after the central bank governor said the board would hike rates ​again if inflation ​becomes entrenched.

The euro was ⁠firm at $1.1875, sterling held at $1.3628 and the kiwi at $0.6052.

The other major mover on the dollar in recent weeks has been China’s yuan, which has been a steady gainer on the back of booming exports and hints ​from authorities that China may tolerate a stronger currency.

Corporate demand ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday helped it to a 33-month top of 6.9057 per dollar on Wednesday and in offshore trade on Thursday it was a fraction firmer still at 6.9025.

This week the U.S. dollar index is down 0.8% to 96.852. In terms of potential catalysts, U.S. jobless claims figures are due later on Thursday and January inflation data is due on Friday.

Ford on Tuesday posted its largest quarterly loss since 2008 amid losses in the automaker’s electric vehicle (EV) division, as well as the impact of tariffs and a fire that impacted an aluminum supplier.

The Detroit automaker reported a fourth quarter net loss of $11.1 billion after previously disclosing large writedowns to its EV programs, which the company is realigning in response to lower-than-expected consumer demand and changing federal subsidies.

“I think the customer has spoken,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said on the company’s earnings call. “That’s the punchline.”

The company lost $4.8 billion on EVs last year and projects 2026 will bring losses in the range of $4 billion to $4.5 billion, adding that the division will continue losing money for at least the next two years. Ford CFO Sherry House said during the earnings call that the automaker is targeting break-even for its EV unit in 2029.

Ford also announced a larger than previously reported financial hit from tariff costs, as the company lost an additional $900 million after the Trump administration said in December that a tariff-relief program would only be retroactive to November, rather than back to May as originally anticipated.

FORD CUTS ELECTRIC F-150 LIGHTNING PRODUCTION, TAKES $19.5B CHARGE IN STRATEGIC SHIFT

Ford became famous for its revolutionary assembly line, introduced with the Model T in 1908. (Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg via Getty Images )

The automaker’s tariff bill last year was about $2 billion and Ford indicated it expects tariff costs will be roughly the same level this year.

Ford was more reliant on imported aluminum due to a pair of fires that impacted an aluminum plant near Oswego, New York, which isn’t expected to be fully operational again until sometime between May and September.

Despite those headwinds, Ford’s fourth quarter revenue of $45.9 billion beat analysts’ expectations. The company narrowly missed its revised guidance of $7 billion, as it posted earnings before interest and taxes of $6.8 billion for the year.

REGULATORS EXPAND PROBE INTO NEARLY 1.3M FORD F-150 PICKUP TRUCKS OVER TRANSMISSION ISSUES

Late last year, Farley announced the company is cutting production of the electric F-150 Lightning and refocusing its investment on hybrid vehicles and affordable EVs, resulting in a $19.5 billion charge on its EV assets and product roadmap.

He said the move would allow the company to refocus investments in higher margin areas like American-built trucks, vans and hybrids across its lineup, as well as more affordable EVs.

FORD CEO HAILS TRUMP FUEL STANDARDS RESET AS A ‘VICTORY’ FOR AFFORDABILITY AND COMMON SENSE

Ford CEO Jim Farley previously announced EV writedowns and strategic pivot. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The company is planning a $30,000 EV platform and has signaled it will start rolling out an electric pickup on that platform next year. Ford also plans to pursue targeted partnerships in certain markets and investments in hybrid technologies.

“I do believe this is the right allocation of capital. It’s a combination of partnerships where it makes sense, efficient partial electrification investments where we have revenue power, and really hitting the EV market in the core,” Farley told analysts on a call Tuesday.

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Reuters contributed to this report.