TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian stocks buckled while the US dollar held firm in early Monday trade after strong U.S. jobs data fanned expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve may raise interest rates sooner than previously thought.
Japan's Nikkei fell 0.7 per cent while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.5 per cent.
The U.S. Labor Department said on Friday that U.S. employers added 295,000 workers in February, beating a forecast of 240,000. It marked the longest run of 200,000-plus increases since 1994.
The unemployment rate hit a 6 1/2-year low of 5.5 per cent in February, down from 5.7 percent in January. "One hypothesis the labour data is putting forward is that employment may now be growing at a pace of almost 300,000 even after the dollar has strengthened considerably.
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