<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Asian equities swung Monday following a mixed US jobs report that left investors weighing the chances of another Federal Reserve interest rate hike.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Global markets endured a volatile time last week, with traders spooked by a range of issues including a US rating downgrade, rising Treasury yields and a lack of concrete measures to boost Chinese growth.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While inflation continues to come down in the United States and parts of the economy are showing signs of slowing, there is plenty of speculation that the Fed will lift rates at least once more this year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A much-anticipated jobs report Friday showed fewer-than-forecast new posts were created last month, playing into the view that the central bank could stand pat.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The cheer was offset by a still-strong read on wage growth, which backed up the hawkish outlook for more tightening, with Bloomberg reporting traders see a 40-percent chance of another hike this year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the medium term, they still see 1.25 percentage points of cuts by the end of 2024.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The debate was also taking place at the central bank, with Chicago Fed boss Austan Goolsbee saying officials had to be patient and that he was optimistic inflation can be brought down without sparking a recession.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He added that the question should be how long borrowing costs are kept at elevated levels, pointing out "if you hold at 5.25 percent, 5.5 percent, five-and-whatever while inflation goes down, that is a restrictive environment".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Holding is increasing restrictiveness in that sense."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, Governor Michelle Bowman said policymakers might need to lift again to achieve stability in prices.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And Win Thin, at Brown Brothers Harriman and Co, warned: "As we've pointed out before, the easy part is getting from eight percent (inflation) to four percent; the hard part is getting it from four percent to two percent.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Because of this, we believe the markets continue to underestimate the Fed's capacity to tighten."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Investors will be keeping a close eye on fresh US inflation data this week as well as jobless claims figures, hoping for a better idea about the Fed's plans.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Wall Street's three main indexes ended Friday in the red, having suffered a late pullback from the morning's rally.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And Asian investors struggled to get the week off to a positive start, with many markets fluctuating.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tokyo was flat, while Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney and Wellington slipped. Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta all rose.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Oil prices were barely moved but held Friday's rally after Ukraine carried out a drone attack on a Russian tanker in the Black Sea at the weekend, fuelling unease about supplies from the major producer, as well as rising costs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Freight rates will be ballooning next week as the risks of carrying anything across the Black Sea proliferate," Viktor Katona, at market intelligence firm Kpler Ltd, said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He added that the price of transporting crude to India could surge by up to 50 percent.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Key figures around 0230 GMT -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 32,190.31 (break)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.1 percent at 19,514.74</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 3,270.35</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1000 from $1.1012 on Friday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2745 from $1.2748</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.30 from 86.35 pence</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dollar/yen: UP at 142.03 yen from 141.77 yen</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.1 percent at $82.77 per barrel</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $86.20 per barrel</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">New York - Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 35,065.62 (close)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">London - FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 7,564.37 (close) AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>