Overnight

Forget Jackson Hole the focus has shifted now to this Friday when U.S. non-farm payroll numbers hit the news. Looked at by many as a sign whether jobs are recovering or still languishing is the next piece in the puzzle about where the Fed will head with interest rates.

The non-farm payroll numbers for August might ruffle more hawkish feathers at the Fed as the expected numbers for Friday are 180,000 job gains, according to a whole gaggle of economists, a figure below that last two reports for June and July of 292,000 and 255,000.

Such being the case is not  lost on international investors as Asian markets Tuesday rebounded after opening weaker. Four of five markets traded higher with only the Nikkei 225 off 0.9% at 16721.88 while the Hang Seng was up ).82% at 23007.62, the Kospi edged 0.525 higher at 2042.91 and the ASX 200 managed a 0.46$ gain at 5494.20. In China both the Shanghai and Shenzhen composites were flat with the Shanghai at 3067.95 and the Shenzhen at 2027.22.

The Japanese yen remained relatively weaker against the dollar, trading at 102.13 on Tuesday morning, compared with levels near 102.37 on Monday afternoon local time.Some positive news just ahead of the market opening in Japan, Reuters reported, had household sending only 0.5% versus the forecast of 0.9% decline, in when is a negative a positive in the topsy-turvy world called investing. The seasonally adjusted for for unemployment for Japan registered at 3.0% when gurus were looking for a 3.1% figure. Retail sales showed a similar decline from the expected figure, declining only 0.2%. The market was looking for a 0.9% falloff.

Japan is essentially at full employment with no end of the deflationary cycle in sight.This comes after the Japanese government has been buying up stock and bonds for years chasing the so-called wealth effect central banker loves to talk about. The dollar eased against the yen to 102.11 yen JPY= from a peak of 102.39, while the euro was slightly firmer at $1.1176 EUR=.

Gold held steady overnight at 1323.30.