Asian Shares Mixed Amid Diplomatic China-Japan Spat

(RTTNews) - Asian shares ended mixed on Monday as investors braced for a barrage of U.S. economic data and a spat over Taiwan threatened ties between China and Japan.

The U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Friday it was working to update its schedule of economic data releases affected by the recently ended government shutdown.

The September nonfarm payrolls report is due on Thursday, but more up-to-date labor and price figures are not due until next month.

The dollar gained in Asian trade while gold edged lower as investors scaled back expectations of a December rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve following cautious comments from Fed officials.

Oil prices fell nearly 1 percent after a Russian export terminal resumed operations.

China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.46 percent to 3,972.04 as a diplomatic rift with Japan worsened and the United States said it aims to finalize rare earths deal with China by Thanksgiving. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.71 percent to 26,384.28 on Fed policy uncertainty.

Japanese markets ended slightly lower and the yen was steady after data showed Japan's economy contracted by 0.4 percent in the July-September quarter, its first setback in six quarters.

The Nikkei average slipped 0.10 percent to 50,323.91 while the broader Topix index settled 0.37 percent lower at 3,347.53. Retail and tourism-related stocks bore the brunt of the selling after China warned its citizens not to travel to Japan.

Fast Retailing lost 5.3 percent and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings plunged 11.3 percent. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group rallied 5.5 percent after the country's second-largest banking group raised its profit forecast.

Seoul stocks rallied as semiconductor shares surged ahead of Nvidia earnings due after the U.S. market close on Wednesday. The Kospi average jumped 1.94 percent to 4,089.25. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics climbed 3.5 percent and chip giant SK Hynix soared 8.2 percent.

Australian markets recovered from an early slide to end on a flat note. Financials lost ground, offsetting gains in the energy sector. Lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell 1 percent to a seven-month low.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index edged up by 0.26 percent to 13,499.04 ahead of important company results and trading updates due later this week.

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday, a day after Wall Street logged its worst session in more than a month on concerns about tech valuations and the outlook for interest rates.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.1 percent to snap a three-day losing streak, while the S&P 500 edged down marginally and the Dow dipped 0.7 percent as a slew of Fed officials warned that inflation progress could slow or stall, denting the prospects for another interest rate cut in December.