source from：http://www.ft.com/intl/markets
Patrick McGee in Hong Kong
Thursday 03:00 GMT. Chinese and Japanese stocks were rallied for a second day, but other markets retreated after US stocks stalled and as investors positioned for Friday’s US jobs report.

China’s Shanghai Composite technically returned to bull market territory, with a rise of more than 2 per cent on Thursday morning taking gains from a late-August low to more than 20 per cent.

The benchmark index rose 10.8 per cent in October, breaking a four-month losing streak with its best month since April. With Thursday’s gain building on Wednesday’s 4.3 per cent jump, the index is up 9.5 per cent for the year and close to 50 per cent over 12 months.

Sentiment toward Chinese equities has improved in recent weeks as data suggest some stabilisation in the economy and policymakers take a proactive stance to ensure they meet a growth target for 2015 of “around 7 per cent”.

Speculative bets have picked up along with the recent gains: on the Shanghai Exchange, margin outstanding — in which brokerages lend money to investors to play the markets — rose 1.9 per cent on Wednesday. That took the amount above $100bn for the first time since September 1.

Margin bets peaked at nearly $240bn in the euphoria earlier in the year. By that standard, leverage does not appear out of control again. But compared with 24 months ago, margin outstanding is up 200 per cent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.9 per cent, buoyed by a weakening in the yen against the US dollar overnight.

The dollar climbed against a basket of rivals after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen reiterated that lifting interest rates at its next meeting in December is a “live possibility.” The dollar index rose 0.8 per cent to 97.95, its highest since early August, before retreating 0.1 per cent in Asia trading.

Ms Yellen was generally upbeat throughout a congressional hearing, telling lawmakers the “downside risks” to the US economy from global economic and financial developments had diminished since September.

“No decision at all has been made” on whether to raise rates next month, Ms Yellen added. But key to that will be labour market indicators, with payrolls data due on Friday.

Two US reports confirmed that US economy was off to a solid start in the fourth quarter.

Private payroll processor ADP showed 182,000 jobs were created last month, bolstering expectations for a solid non-farm payrolls report. The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index rose to 59.1 in October from 56.9, leaving it close to the decade-high scaled in July.

With the dollar gaining and a December rate rise looking more likely, the S&P 500 retreated 0.4 per cent.

That set a weak tone for trading in Asia outside of China and Japan. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was flat after gaining 0.9 per cent on Wednesday. In Australia the S&P/ASX 200 was off 0.9 per cent while South Korea’s Kospi Composite slipped 0.4 per cent.

Bucking the upbeat move in Tokyo, Takata plunged again, falling 23 per cent to a six-year low as analysts question whether the auto-parts maker can survive the airbag crisis.

SoftBank shares dropped 1.5 per cent after the Japanese telecoms group, which bought Sprint in the US in 2013, reporting a rise in operating profits but offered no guidance as it struggles to make Sprint profitable.