Asian markets lower after Wall St record, China trade growth

BEIJING — Global stock markets and Wall Street futures declined Monday after stronger U.S. hiring and a double-digit rise in Chinese exports.

London and Frankfurt opened lower. Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney declined while Shanghai advanced.

U.S. employers hired more people than expected in October, according to government data released on Friday.

China’s October exports rose 27.1% over a year earlier, though that eased off the previous month’s 28.1% growth, customs data showed Sunday.

Despite that gain, Chinese anti-virus controls might dampen factory and consumer activity, “still bringing about an uncertain recovery picture,” Yeap Jun Rong of IG said in a report.

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London was off less than 0.1% at 7,303.60. The DAX in Frankfurt lost less than 0.1% to 16,051.14. The CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.1% to 7,047.62.

On Wall Street, futures for the benchmark S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average were down less than 0.1%.

On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to a record after the government reported companies hired 531,000 people in October, more than the consensus forecast of 450,000.

The Dow gained 0.6%, also to a new high. The Nasdaq composite added 0.2%.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.4% to 29,507.05 while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.2% to 2,498.63. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.4% to 34,763.77.

The Kospi in Seoul retreated 0.3% to 2,960.20 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 lost less than 0.1% to 7,452.20.

India’s Sensex rose 0.9% to 60,588.11. New Zealand retreated while Southeast Asia markets rose.

This week, the U.S. government is due to report inflation. Investors are worried that the Federal Reserve and other central banks might feel pressure to cool rising prices by pulling back stimulus that is boosting stock prices.

Also Monday, China‘s ruling Communist Party opened a leadership meeting amid signs President Xi Jinping is laying the groundwork to pursue a third term as party leader next year.

Investors also hope for possible updates on policy toward technology and other industries after data security and anti-monopoly crackdowns on Chinese tech giants that began late last year wiped more than $1 trillion off their total stock market values.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 77 cents to $82.04 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $2.46 to $81.27 on Friday. Brent crude, the price basis for international oils, gained 74 cents to $83.48 per barrel in London. The previous session, it added $2.20 to $82.74.

The dollar gained to 113.50 yen from Friday’s 113.40 yen. The euro advanced to $1.1572 from $1.1550.