Asian markets mixed on China, US data

Asian markets were mixed Tuesday, in the first full day of trade after the Easter break, as investors digested weak US jobs data and concerns over the global economy.Tokyo gained 0.77 percent by the break, Hong Kong shed 0.90 percent, Shanghai fell 0.19 percent, Sydney was 0.62 percent off and Seoul added 0.54 percent.There was little movement immediately after Beijing released figures showing the China had swung back to a trade surplus in March after seeing a huge deficit in the previous month that had raised concerns over the economy.Sydney and Hong Kong were reacting for the first time to news out of the United States that the recent surge in jobs growth had come to a halt.The US Labor Department reported the economy created just 120,000 jobs in March, well below analyst forecasts of 200,000, although the unemployment rate edged down to a more than three-year-low of 8.2 percent from 8.3 percent.The weak figures raised speculation that the Federal Reserve may yet have to apply fresh stimulus to boost growth.In response to the figures, on Wall Street Monday the Dow fell one percent, the S&P 500 shed 1.14 percent and the Nasdaq dropped 1.08 percent.China said Tuesday that it had recorded a trade surplus of $5.35 billion last month -- beating expectations of another deficit -- as exports rose 8.9 percent year on year.On Monday its consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, hit 3.6 percent in March from 3.2 percent in February, leading to concerns that Beijing may not ease monetary policy as quickly or as much as previously hoped.Last month Premier Wen Jiabao said consumer prices were still high and said the governments aim was to keep inflation within four percent this year.Investors will likely continue to take a wait-and-see approach ahead of the release of more data later this week, including gross domestic product and industrial production.Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets said in a note: Given the volatility of monthly economic statistics, neither the US nonfarm payroll figure nor Chinas (inflation) figure can be taken as conclusive evidence of deteriorating trend at this stage.However, they come at a time when US employment growth is not yet seen as sufficient to become self-sustaining and investors are assessing the possibility of a hard landing in China, he added, according to Dow Jones Newswires.In foreign exchange trade the greenback was changing hands at 81.60 yen, up from 81.49 yen in New York late Monday. The euro rose to $1.3134 and 107.16 yen from $1.3106 and 106.80 yen.On oil markets, New Yorks main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in May was up 24 cents to $102.70 per barrel while Brent North Sea crude for May gained nine cents to $122.76 in morning trade.Gold was at $1,653.10 an ounce at 0310 GMT, compared with $1,640.30 late Monday.