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By Bloomberg

American equity-index futures slipped with Australia’s dollar, stocks and government bonds after Chinese imports plunged and U.S. payrolls data fueled speculation over the outlook for higher interest rates. Oil extended gains following the best two weeks for Brent crude in 17 years.

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures fell 0.4 percent by 8:56 a.m. in Tokyo, as the S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.5 percent in Sydney. The Aussie lost 0.4 percent as yields on 10-year debt jumped 11 basis points, pacing Friday’s increase in Treasury rates. New Zealand stocks also fell with both countries counting China as their biggest trading partner, while Japanese index futures signaled gains amid a weaker yen. Copper futures declined 0.1 percent as Brent and West Texas Intermediate oil rose a third day, climbing at least 1.4 percent.

Imports to China slumped the most in more than five years in January, while exports unexpectedly fell, swelling the trade surplus to a record and highlighting the weakness in domestic demand for Asia’s No. 1 economy. U.S. payrolls capped the biggest three-month gain in 17 years, a report Friday showed. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reaffirmed his rejection of the country’s bailout program on Sunday, while Ukraine peace talks are set to resume this week amid escalating violence there.

“Chinese policy makers are acutely aware of potential issues within their economy and the bias is for more stimulus,” Tim Schroeders, a portfolio manager who helps oversee about $1 billion in equities at Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne, said by phone. “The U.S. jobs data reaffirms the likelihood of a Fed change in policy around mid year. It caught the market on the wrong foot to a degree. It’s realigned people’s thoughts.”

Aussie Markets

The Aussie held losses after Prime Minister Tony Abbott survived a challenge to his leadership, with lawmakers in his Liberal Party voting 61 to 39 against a motion that would have forced a ballot on whether to oust him. Australian debt due in a decade yielded 2.56 percent in a second day of declines for the notes.

The New Zealand dollar fell 0.2 percent to 73.50 U.S. cents after sinking 0.4 percent on Friday, while New Zealand government bonds yielded 3.21 percent, up three basis points, or 0.04 percentage point. The euro was little changed at $1.1313 after earlier dropping as much as 0.3 percent.

Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasuries jumped 14 basis points to 1.96 percent on Friday as the jobs data underlined the risk of a U.S. rate increase this year. While utilities and health-care stocks drove the S&P 500 lower, bank stocks gained 0.7 percent on the outlook for borrowing costs. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major peers, climbed 1 percent to pare its decline in the week.

China Data

Shipments from China slipped 3.3 percent in January, after rising 9.7 percent in December, data from the customs administration in Beijing showed Sunday. Economists had projected a 5.9 percent increase. China cut the reserve ratio for banks last week and reduced interest rates in November as it seeks to stoke growth and head off a domestic downturn.

Futures on the SGX FTSE China A50 Index dropped 0.7 percent in trading at the end of last week, while contracts on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average were bid up 1.1 percent at 17,850 in the Osaka pre-market after the yen’s 1.4 percent drop against the dollar on Friday. The Japanese currency gained 0.1 percent to 118.98 per dollar in Monday trading.

Payrolls in the U.S. swelled by 257,000 workers last month, following a 329,000 gain in December that was bigger than previously reported. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 228,000 increase in January. The unemployment rate climbed to 5.7 percent.

Rate Outlook

“The data supports the view that labor-market conditions are converging towards the Fed’s full-employment mandate and on its current trajectory will encourage the Fed to start rate hikes from mid-2015,” Mark Smith, a senior economist in Auckland at ANZ Bank New Zealand Ltd., wrote in an e-mail to clients, referring to the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Brent crude gained 1.5 percent to $58.66 a barrel, up about 26 percent from an almost six-year settlement low reached Jan. 13. Brent surged 18 percent in the 10 trading days to Feb. 6, the most since March 1998, though it is still down almost 50 percent from a high reached in June.

WTI oil jumped 2.1 percent to $52.76 a barrel in New York, following a weekly gain of 7.2 percent, fueled by speculation a declining rig count in the U.S. indicates U.S. oil production growth will slow. Price volatility rose to the highest level in almost six years.

Leaders of Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia -- which is the world’s biggest energy exporter -- plan to meet in Minsk, Belarus on Feb. 11 for talks on a peace agreement amid ongoing violence in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said all sides must first agree on their positions before discussions can take place.