Asian stock markets mostly gained Monday, albeit modestly, as investors picked up on some signs of improvement in the world's top two economies. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index advanced 0.4%, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5% on the Chinese mainland. South Korea's Kospi traded with marginal gains, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.1%. However, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.1%, giving up early gains. Investors were picking up on a better-than-expected November U.S. employment figures out Friday and a slew of stronger Chinese data released Sunday, including industrial production and retail sales figures. The data fed into optimism that world economies can grow at moderate levels next year “if confidence can be maintained by a reasonable outcome on the U.S. fiscal policy negotiations," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets. “The political situation in Italy may temper this confidence though. The prospect of an election next year being fought on the issue of fiscal policy will be unsettling for bond and equity markets," Spooner said after news that Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti may step down early. Chinese trade data out Monday caused a brief wobble, after it showed export growth slowing sharply to 2.9% in November, down from 11.6% in October and well below the 9.6% rise tipped in a Dow Jones Newswires survey of economists. The trade numbers weighed on Chinese shares in the minutes after their release, but stocks there soon recovered. Peter Lai, director at First Shanghai said that the data served to illustrate weakness elsewhere, especially in Europe, and also likely reflected seasonal influences. For example, many companies send out Christmas exports in October, he said, adding that “overall, the Chinese data was quite encouraging." Hong Kong-listed property firms were advancing on Monday after the stronger property-investment data on Sunday, with China Resources Land Ltd. up 3.6%, and China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. rising 1.1%. Oil major Cnooc Ltd. climbed 1.6% in Hong Kong after Canadian authorities on Friday approved its $15.1 billion buyout of Canada's Nexen Inc. Iron-ore producer Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. rallied 7.1% in Sydney. The firm said it's in talks to sell part of its half-share of the Nullagine iron-ore mine to joint-venture partner BC Iron Ltd. Trade in shares of BC Iron were on a temporary halt in Sydney. Japanese economic data out Monday showed a widening current-account surplus in October and gross domestic product contracting 0.9% in the third quarter, unrevised from an initial estimate, officially sending the country into technical recession. The data saw the yen extend a recent bout of weakness, with the dollar reaching 82.48 yen, off its highs of the day but still marginally above its ¥82.44 level in late North American trading Friday. There were some notable gainers in Tokyo on Monday — Advantest Corp. surged 5.4% with the firm expecting its sales may rise 20% this quarter compared to the previous quarter, according to a Bloomberg report. Citizen Holdings Co. rose 1.3%, and chip maker Renesas Electronics Corp. improved by 1%. Panasonic Corp. advanced 1.2% amid reports it planned to sell off some of its real-estate assets, including a Kyodo News account that its Panasonic Tokyo Shiodome office tower may be for sale. But other technology firms weren't performing so well, with Sharp Corp. paring December gains to 19.8% on after it fell 4.2% Monday. Likewise, TDK Corp. , moved down 2.8%, and Toshiba Corp. , retreated 2.9%. Financials also lost ground, with Nomura Holdings Inc. down 1.7% and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. lower by 1.3%. Financials also edged lower in South Korea, where KB Financial Group Inc. , lost 1.2% and Hana Financial Group Inc. traded down 1.5%. On the plus side, Hyundai Motors Corp. advanced 1.1%, and heavyweight technology major Samsung Electronics Co. rose 1.1%. Marketwatch
