Asian stocks mixed after US job gain paves way for rate hike

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stocks were mixed Monday after strong U.S. jobs data cleared the way for more interest rate hikes and Chinese exports rose by double digits.

Shanghai and Tokyo advanced while Hong Kong and Seoul retreated. Oil prices edged higher.

Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 lost 0.2% on Friday after government data showed American employers added more jobs than expected in June. That undercut expectations a slowing economy might prompt the Fed to postpone or scale back plans for more rate hikes to cool inflation.

“Now it seems they will be debating whether they need to be even more aggressive,” Edward Moya of Oanda said in a report.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2% to 3,233.07 after China's July exports beat forecasts.

Exports in July surged 18% compared with a year earlier while imports rose just 2.3%, reflecting weak global demand, Chinese customs data showed Sunday. The country’s global trade surplus swelled to a record $101 billion.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.8% to 20,040.21 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 0.2% to 26.230.90.

The Kospi in Seoul gained less than 0.1% to 2,491.91 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 shed less than 0.1% to 7,009.80.

India's Sensex opened up 0.4% at 58,613.39. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets retreated.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 declined to 4,145.19 on Friday while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2% to 32,803.47. The Nasdaq composite lost 0.5% at 12,657.55.

Investors worry tighter policy from the Fed and central banks in Europe and Asia to cool inflation that is running at multi-decade highs might derail global economic growth.

Markets also have been rattled by Russia’s war on Ukraine, which caused a spike in prices of oil, wheat and other commodities, and by uncertainty about Chinese...