Wahsington: After a significant rally on Wall Street, which was in part sparked by Apple's report of better-than-expected profit, European shares opened little changed and Asian shares were mostly higher on Monday.
While Chinese markets rose, Tokyo's benchmark declined. US futures were unchanged while oil prices increased.
According to a report released on Friday, hiring increased significantly more than forecast last month across the economy. The government's jobs report also revealed that employees received larger pay raises than anticipated.
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Even as time runs out to reach a deal on raising the U.S. government debt ceiling, such trends helped allay concerns that a recession is on the horizon, according to a commentary by Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.
However, he added, "anxiety is rising early this time and accelerated last week after Secretary Yellen warned that a default could happen as soon as June 1."
The DAX in Germany was unchanged at 15,962.77 early on Monday, while the CAC 40 in Paris climbed 0.1% to 7,437.81. Due to a holiday, markets in Britain were closed.
While the contract for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher, the future for the S&P 500 remained essentially unchanged.
According to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the United States has "no good options" to avert an economic "calamity" if Congress doesn't increase the country's borrowing limit of $31.381 trillion in the upcoming weeks.
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In an interview with ABC's "This Week," she claimed that the government wouldn't have enough money to meet its obligations. And it's generally acknowledged that financial and economic chaos would result, according to Yellen.
She left open the possibility that President Joe Biden would try to avert the first-ever federal default by ignoring lawmakers and taking independent action. Millions of jobs could be lost, companies could go bankrupt, financial markets could crash, and there would be long-lasting economic pain if the government can't borrow money to keep paying its bills for an extended period of time.
The Nikkei 225 fell 0.7% to 28,949.88 on Monday in Tokyo.
Shanghai Composite index rose 1.8% to 3,395.00, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 1.2% to 20,297.03. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney increased by 0.8% to 7,276.50 while the KOSPI in South Korea increased by 0.5% to 2,513.21.
Taiwan's Taiex increased by 0.5%, while India's Sensex increased by 1.2%.
Concerns that persistently high inflation may force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates further and put additional pressure on an already slowing economy increased as a result of the positive U.S. employment data.
After increasing its benchmark rate from practically zero at the beginning of last year to a range of 5% to 5.25%, the Fed said on Wednesday that it was unsure of its next course of action. It would be the first time in more than a year if the Fed held rates steady at its upcoming meeting in June, which is what many traders anticipate.
The American banking system is already weakened by high interest rates. Regulators seized First Republic Bank last week, making it the third significant U.S. bank failure since March.
The turmoil in the sector has increased unease because if banks cut back on lending, like by raising interest rates, this could further stifle the economy.
The S&P 500 was helped by Apple, the most valuable stock on Wall Street, which increased 4.7% on Friday. Despite a decline in earnings and revenue, the iPhone manufacturer still outperformed analysts' modest expectations.
In other trading on Monday, New York Mercantile Exchange electronic trading saw benchmark U.S. crude oil rise $1.27 to $72.61 per barrel. On Friday, it increased $2.78 to reach $71.34 per barrel.
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The price of Brent crude, the benchmark for international prices, rose $1.25 to $76.55 per barrel. From 134.88 Japanese yen, the dollar increased to 134.98 yen. From $1.1023, the euro increased to $1.1035 today.