Asian Markets Mixed As Upbeat US Jobs Data Sparks Fed Reserve QE Taper Fears

Asian markets witnessed mixed trade on 11 November as upbeat US jobs data sparked US Federal Reserve QE taper fears.

The Japanese Nikkei finished 1.30% higher or 183.04 points at 14,269.84.

Australia's S&P/ASX finished 0.25% lower or 13.60 points at 5,387.10.

South Korea's Kospi finished 0.38% lower or 7.57 points at 1,977.30.

The Shanghai Composite finished 0.16% higher or 3.34 points at 2,109.47.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was trading 1.34% higher or 305.05 points to 23,049.44.

India's BSE Sensex was trading 0.15% lower or 31.33 points to 20,644.43.

The Philippines PSI 20 index finished 1.42% lower or 89.95 points at 6265.23, its lowest level in over a month.

The American economy added 204,000 new jobs in October. The job numbers were despite a 16-day partial shutdown of the government last month, which was caused by a political argument over raising the country's debt-limit.

In addition, the report disclosed that 60,000 more jobs were created in September and August than previously reported.

The news is a positive for the world's biggest economy and could encourage the US Federal Reserve to start trimming its asset-buying stimulus in December.

The Fed will announce its monetary policy decision on 18 December.

Meanwhile Janet Yellen, the nominee to chair the Federal Reserve, will be questioned by the US Senate Banking Committee on 14 November and her answers could provide clues as to the future pace of the Fed's bond-buying programme.

Credit Agricole CIB said in a note to clients: "Stronger than expected U.S. labor market report will increase fears of portfolio capital outflow from emerging markets, and will weigh on current account deficit currencies in particular".

Meanwhile, China put out upbeat economic data over the weekend. Official reports showed that industrial production rose 10.3% year-on-year in October, beating expectations. Industrial production rose 10.2% in September.

Exports grew 5.6% year-on-year in October, thanks to a higher demand from the US and Europe. Inflation inched up to 3.2% from 3.1%, and remains within the government's comfort range.

Together, the three sets of data could prompt Beijing to further reform the world's second largest economy. The ongoing four-day closed-door meeting of senior Communist Party officials will end on 12 November. China's new leaders could make public the nation's economic agenda for the next decade this week.

Elsewhere, equities in the Philippines suffered on news that super typhoon Haiyan killed some 10,000 people in the central Philippine province of Leyte alone over the weekend. The category-5 storm which barrelled through the Philippines was one of the most powerful cyclones ever to hit the landmass.

Asian markets finished the week ended 9 November lower, with Australia's ASX leading the pack and both India's Sensex and South Korea's Kospi trailing.

Wall Street Up

On Wall Street, indices ended higher on 8 November as investors digest October's labour market data.

The Dow finished167.80 points higher or 1.1% at 15,761.78, a new record for the benchmark index.

The S&P 500 closed 23.46 points higher or 1.3% at 1,770.61, just two points shy of its record close.

The Nasdaq ended 61.9 points higher, or 1.6% at 3,919.23.

For the week ended 9 November, the Dow finished 0.9% higher while the S&P 500 closed 0.5% higher. However, the Nasdaq shed 0.1%.

"The jobs report was better than expected in terms of the absolute number, but unfortunately, similar to recent reports in terms of quality. Some of the negative components include a decreasing participation rate and a general lower quality bias to the types of jobs that were being made," said Lawrence Creatura, portfolio manager at Federated Investors.

"Many consider jobs in the leisure and retail components of the economy as lower quality, and those types of jobs were a very significant portion of the gain," Creatura told CNBC.

Company Stock Movements

In Tokyo, watchmaker Citizen shot up over 7% after the firm raised its financial outlook for the year ending March 2014.

Exporters' stocks gained on the back of a weaker yen. Semiconductor maker Tokyo Electron rose 2.1% while test-equipment maker Advantest added 2%.

Camera maker Olympus lost 3.3% after its second-quarter operating profit fell short of market consensus.

In Shanghai, railway stocks gained on news that the government could soon award tenders for high-speed trains.

China South Locomotive & Rolling added 4% while rival China Railway Construction moved up 2%.

Real estate stocks were pulled down by news that Beijing could introduce a nationwide property tax in 2015.

China Merchants Property dropped 5%. Rivals Poly Real Estate and Vanke lost over 2%.

In Mumbai, construction major Larsen and Toubro fell 2.5% while HDFC Bank was down 1.6%.

Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR) parent Tata Motors dropped 1.75% after third-quarter operating profit margins at JLR missed estimates when adjusted for one-time tax incentives.

In Sydney, National Australia Bank was down 1.7% while Commonwealth Bank of Australia shed 1% as investors took profits.

Explosives maker surged 11.6% after it reported a 49% surge in full-year profit from the previous year's $403m.

In Seoul, index heavyweight Samsung Electronics and automaker Kia Motor gained 1% each.

LG Display was down 2% after local brokerages lowered the firm's operating profit forecast for the fourth quarter.