Investing.com - Shares in Australia fell on Thursday on mixed jobs data that showed a surge in new employment in July, but also more people looking for work.
The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.71%, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.39% and the Nikkei 225 rose 0.78%.
Australia reported a sharp gain of 38,500 jobs in July, beating an expected 10,000 increase, while the unemployment rate ticked higher to 6.3% from the 6.0% seen and the participation rate jumped to 65.1% from 64.8%.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were mixed on Wednesday, as a rally in AAPL shares and indications of a potential delayed interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve offset a continuing downturn in energy stocks and a rout among major cable companies.
Heavy losses in Disney shares helped extend a mild losing streak on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, while the NASDAQ Composite Index and S&P Composite Index posted moderate gains to end two-day losing streaks of their own.
The Dow lost 10.22 or 0.06% to 17,540.47, amid a sell-off in Disney shares one day after the company downgraded its outlook for its cable networks in its quarterly earnings.
Disney CEO Robert Iger further roiled the cable sector by issuing a warning that the company could modify its cable network model in an effort to grab a larger share of the video-streaming market. As a result, shares in Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOX), Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and Time Warner Inc (NYSE:NYSE:TWX) all fell by more than 4.5% on the session.
The NASDAQ Composite index rose 34.40 or 0.67% to 5,139.95, while the S&P 500 Composite index inched up 6.52 or 0.31% to 2,099.84. On the S&P 500, seven of 10 sectors closed in the green as stocks in the Technology, Consumer Goods and Health Care sectors led.
On Wednesday data showed that service sector activity in the U.S. grew at the fastest pace since August 2005 in July.
The Institute of Supply Management said its non-manufacturing purchasing manager's index rose to 60.3 last month from 56.0 in June, above forecasts for a reading of 56.2.
The data came after payroll processing firm ADP said non-farm private employment rose 185,000 last month, below expectations for an increase of 215,000. The economy created 229,000 jobs in June, whose figure was downwardly revised from a previously reported increase of 237,000.
Separately, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis said that the trade deficit widened to $43.84 billion in June from $40.94 billion in May, whose figure was revised from a previously reported deficit of $40.7 billion.
Analysts had expected the U.S. trade deficit to widen to $42.8 billion in June.
Investors were now turning their attention to the upcoming U.S. jobs report for July, which could reinforce expectations for higher interest rates.