Overnight Markets: Asian stocks rise on strong China manufacturing data

Asian stock markets rose on Monday after China’s faster-than-expected manufacturing growth overshadowed speculation the dollar will fall before policy meetings this week by the Bank of Japan and the US Federal Reserve.

MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.2% to 130 as of 10:13 a.m. in Tokyo. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.8%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.1%.

In corporate news, BHP Billiton Ltd gained 1.2% in Sydney. Nissan Motor fell 0.9% in Tokyo on concern a stronger yen will hurt export earnings. Nomura Holdings declined 3.8% after profit plunged.

After most US stocks ended last week lower and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index completed its second straight monthly gain, investors now await congressional elections and the Fed’s plans for economic stimulus.

Fed open market committee meeting on Wednesday is expected to outline details of a second round of quantitative easing. Fed’s strong action could result into the sharp appreciation of yen, which in turn may prompt the BoJ to take measures. The Japanese central bank has brought forward its next policy meeting, originally scheduled for 15-16 November, to Thursday and Friday.

Monetary policy decisions from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank on Thursday will provide further direction to the US and European markets. The BoE may choose no change after the recent economic resilience shown in UK third-quarter growth data.

Meanwhile, the US labour department will unveil its monthly non-farm payrolls report with the analysts estimating the number of jobs created in October at about 65,000. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 9.6%.

Investors will also focus on a series of earnings reports from S&P 500 companies.