Asia markets edged up early on Monday as investors in Asia awaited the release of China Caixin services PMI.

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The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.71 percent on broad-based gains across its sub-indexes. Major miners and gold stocks made significant gains: Rio Tinto was up 1.55 percent and Alacer Gold rose 3.14 percent. The energy sub-index underperformed the broader market, trading 0.01 percent below the flat line.

With Japan, South Korea and Taiwan markets closed for public holidays, investors are expected to turn their attention to China data as mainland markets resume trade after the week-long "Golden Week" holiday.

China September Caixin services and composite PMI are due at 9:45 a.m. HK/SIN while September foreign exchange reserves are expected later in the day.

Labor market data from the US showed a decline of 33,000 jobs in September, well below the 90,000 increase forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. The weaker-than-expected statistic was attributed to distortion from the impact of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Despite the softer headline number, average hourly wages rose 0.5 percent last month while unemployment fell to its lowest level in more than 16 years.

Stocks stateside closed narrowly mixed on Friday following the data release. The Dow Jones industrial average finished the session just 0.01 percent, or 1.72 points, below the flat line at 22,773.67 while the Nasdaq added 0.07 percent to close at 6,590.18.

Meanwhile, the greenback, which originally edged up following the reported increase in wages last week, slid on news that North Korea was readying a new long-range missile test, Reuters said Friday, quoting a Russian lawmaker.

The dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of currencies, was steady after Friday's slide, standing at 93.737 at 8:11 a.m. HK/SIN. Against the Japanese currency, the greenback fetched 112.54 yen.

In economic news, several Federal Reserve officials indicated openness to an interest rate hike in December. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said Friday he was "open minded" about another rate hike by year-end, while New York Fed President William Dudley said he thought it was "appropriate" for the central bank to continue removing accommodation.

Australia's Mantra Group was among early market movers in the session. Shares of the hotel operator spiked after the company confirmed in a statement that it had received a takeover offer from Accor. Mantra Group stock was up 16.56 percent by 8:17 a.m. HK/SIN.

In other currencies, the Turkish lira sank on diplomatic tensions between the country and the US. The greenback gained some 4 percent against the Turkish currency earlier in the session and last fetched 3.7289 lira at 8:23 a.m. HK/SIN.

On the energy front, oil prices inched higher after tumbling on Friday when oversupply worries brought an end to a recent rally. Brent crude rose 0.14 percent to trade at USD 55.70 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 0.3 percent to trade at USD 49.44.

First Published:Oct 9, 2017 7:35 AM IST