Japan fell behind its regional peers as most major Asian markets rose on Monday as traders digested last Friday's non-farm payroll in the US and China's new economic targets announced at the National People's Congress (NPC) meeting over the weekend.

The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 was down 0.31 percent in morning trade, while the broader Topix slipped 0.74 percent. Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi was up 0.25 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 0.38 percent in early trade.

Chinese markets were higher, with the Shanghai composite up by 0.69 percent, while the Shenzhen composite added 2.36 percent.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.95 percent, boosted by gains in the energy, materials and heavily-weighted financials sector. The sectors were up 2.4, 2.9 and 0.88 percent respectively.

Vishnu Varathan, senior economist at Mizuho Bank, said in his morning note that while the strong non-farm payroll data in the US might suggest another Federal Reserve rate hike, the weak wage data, suggests that the Fed will not rush into a hike.

"For now, the focus on Fed push-back of further tightening may be justifiably buying some relief for broader risk markets. But relief is a fleeting driver of trades," he said. "Improved global condition, and critically China's backstop on growth slowdown, are imperative. The NPC provided some guidance, but no immediate panacea."

China's new economic targets for 2016, released on Saturday at the National People's Congress (NPC) meeting, included a revised growth target of between 6.5 and 7 percent, a consumer price index growth target of around 3 percent and a budget deficit at 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), Reuters reported.

Evan Lucas, market strategist at IG, said in his morning note that the revised GDP target for 2016 is "almost a 'whatever it takes' comment, and shows China will not take its foot off the growth accelerator."

Qu Hongbin, chief China economist at HSBC, wrote in a morning note that the NPC outcome reflected a "significant expansion" of fiscal policy.

"This will provide greater support to the financing needs of infrastructure projects, which holds the key to

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First Published:Mar 7, 2016 7:45 AM IST