Asian markets climbed Monday afternoon as China's exports declined in November for the fourth consecutive month, according to the country's customs data. Mainland Chinese stocks were little changed by the afternoon, with the Shanghai composite, Shenzhen component and Shenzhen composite all hovering around the flatline. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was largely flat, as protests in the city crossed a 6-month milestone. Demonstrators have been locked in a stalemate with the city's embattled local government since early June. China's overseas shipments dropped 1.1 percent year-on-year in November, below the 1.0 percent expansion expected by analysts in a Reuters poll. Imports, on the other hand, rose 0.3 percent as compared to a year earlier — exceeding projections for a 1.8 percent decline. The latest print on Chinese trade comes as Beijing remains embroiled in a trade war with Washington. Both parties aim to reach a phase one trade deal that has remained elusive ahead of a closely-watched date of December 15, when additional tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. are set to kick in. The continued decline in exports from China means that Beijing has "very good incentive to come to some agreement," Steve Cochrane, chief Asia Pacific economist at Moody's Analytics, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday. "That … might be a positive factor." Still, Cochrane remained uncertain on the possible timeline for the two economic powerhouses to strike a deal: "I think there's probably as much of a chance that we go into next year before we get an agreement, as we get one next week." Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.34 percent as shares of index heavyweight and conglomerate Softbank Group gained more than 1 percent while the Topix index gained 0.4 percent. Japan's economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.8 percent in the July to September quarter, according to revised data from the country's Cabinet Office on Monday. That was sharply higher than the initial estimate of a 0.2 percent expansion. Still, one economist voiced caution over growth figures for the fourth quarter. "We had some very weak consumption figures for October which is … not much of a surprise after the sales tax hike, but the figures were probably … on the weaker end of what we had been anticipating," Marcel Thieliant, senior economist at Capital Economics, told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Monday. Exacerbated by the fact that industrial production "fell very sharply in October," Thieliant said: "Clearly, (the fourth quarter) will be very weak. We have penciled in a 1 percent contraction in output." South Korea's Kospi also added 0.21 percent. Shares in Australia also gained, with the S&P/ASX 200 up by 0.32 percent. Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.17 percent higher. Meanwhile, a blockbuster jobs report stateside sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring 337.27 points to close at 28,015.06 on Friday — its best performance since October 4. The U.S. economy added 266,000 jobs in November, according to figures released Friday by the Labor Department, smashing a gain of 187,000 expected by economists in a Dow Jones poll. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent, matching its lowest level since 1969. Currencies and oil The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 97.711 after falling from levels above 98.1 last week. The Japanese yen traded at 108.57 per dollar after strengthening from lows beyond 109.6 in the previous week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6831 after rising from levels below $0.678 last week. Oil prices dipped in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures shedding 0.3 percent to $64.20 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also fell 0.47 percent to $58.92 per barrel. Source: CNBC
