Trading in key Asian markets was somewhat listless Monday. The start of the new week brought few cheers to lift the markets out of their recent lackluster trading. Bellwether indices in Asia ended mostly in the red but losses were fairly limited.

There were few cues from Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to eke out a small gain in the last hour of trade last Friday, closing well above its intra day lows. However, the closely watched benchmark index still ended the week 0.5% lower, which brought losses to about 4% for the year so far.

On the Bursa Malaysia, shares traded on the back foot for the better part of the day. Selling pressure intensified as the day progressed, sending the FBM KLCI sharply into the red after the mid-day break. The benchmark index closed almost 13 points lower at 1,235.2. There were more than five losers for every gainer at the close. Market volume stood at just over 769 million shares.

The upcoming long break for the Lunar New Year celebrations will probably keep many investors sidelined for the rest of the week, especially given prevailing uncertainties.

The US jobs market report released Friday last week continued to paint a bleak picture for employment prospects in the world’s largest economy. The country shed another 20,000 jobs in January 2010 although the unemployment rate dropped to 9.7%, from 10% in December 2009. However, the so-called “underemployment” rate – which includes those who have given up looking for a job and part-timers who would prefer to work full time – is estimated at a higher 16.5%.

Analysts are concerned that high unemployment rate will continue to keep a lid on US consumer spending, which was the primary driver for global growth before the recession. Sentiment is also being dampened by growing debt woes in several euro zone member countries, such as Greece, Portugal and Spain.