Asia Markets Mixed as Investors Further Digest China's Modest Growth Target

This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

Stocks in Asia-Pacific traded mixed on Monday as investors further digested China's

growth target

set in its parliamentary sessions and looked ahead to a week of economic data.

In Australia, the

S&P/ASX 200

rose 0.6% ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision Tuesday, with economists surveyed by Reuters expecting to see a 25 basis point hike in its cash rate.

The

Nikkei 225

rose 1.21% and the Topix climbed 0.9%. In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.4% and the Kosdaq climbed 1.01% as the nation's inflation showed further easing in February.

The Shanghai Composite dropped 0.2% in mainland China and the Shenzhen Component fell 0.32% after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang published the nation's government report on Sunday. The

Hang Seng index

fell 0.35% in Hong Kong.

The U.S. non-farm payroll will be a key focus this week with expectations to see cooled hiring, prompting the Federal Reserve to maintain a smaller rate hike pace.

Stocks on Wall Street

ended the week

higher as Treasury yields eased from their recent highs and investors weighed the cumulative impact from Fed hikes already implemented and digested this week's comments from the central bank.

The

Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 1.17%, the

S&P 500

climbed 1.61%, and the

Nasdaq Composite

gained 1.97%. The yield on benchmark

10-year Treasury note

dipped below the 4% threshold.

— CNBC's Tanaya Macheel, Hakyung Kim contributed to this report

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The major averages close higher

Stocks closed higher Friday, pushing major averages to a winning week.

The

Dow Jones Industrial Average

The index rose 387.40 points or 1.17% to 33,390.97. The

S&P 500

The climbed by 1.61% to 4,045.64, while the

Nasdaq Composite

Closed at 11,689.01 with a gain of 1.97%

The Dow gained 1.75% for the week. The S&P gained 1.9%, while the Nasdaq rose 2.58%.

-- Tanaya Macheel

David Rosenberg believes that a weaker job market could result in trade risk.

David Rosenberg, chief economist and strategist of Rosenberg Research, believes the stock market would see a sustained rally when the labor market starts to contract in three to four months.

"Right now you've got a situation where the stock markets and the credit markets seem to think that they have more time that they can buy before the boom really gets lowered on the economy," Rosenberg said on CNBC's "

Quick Money

" Thursday.

"There's no doubt the economy is not strong, but it has to weaken precipitously. Unemployment has to start contracting... I think that's where you're going to find the risk on trade," he added.

The employment picture started off 2023 on a stunningly strong note, with nonfarm payrolls posting their biggest gain since July 2022. The Federal Reserve could reverse its tightening policy when the jobs market shows weakness.

— Yun Li

Brent oil prices fall on reports UAE is considering an OPEC departure

Relations between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates growing more tense, according to a report

by the Wall Street Journal

. Citing Emirati officials, the report said the UAE is debating whether it should depart OPEC.

The news of the potential rupture in the oil cartel put a chill on Brent crude prices. At one point in Friday trading, prices had fallen nearly 3%, before recovering. Recently, the global benchmark was down 0.85% at $84.03.

The two oil producing nations have been jockeying for influence and disagree over the direction of the Yemen war, according to the report.

—Christina Cheddar Berk