Asian markets ended mostly in the red on Thursday on the back of a lower-than-expected preliminary reading of Chinese manufacturing activity. Growth in China’s vast manufacturing industry weakened in August, suggesting that the recovery in the world No. 2 economy is losing momentum and Beijing may need to spoon out more stimulus. The preliminary version of HSBC’s manufacturing index fell to a three-month low of 50.3 from 51.7 in July, indicating that manufacturing businesses are barely growing. However, Japanese Nikkei gained by around a percent on the prospect of a stronger dollar after Fed minutes showed policymakers are leaning toward their first rate hike since the 2008 financial crisis. On economic front, the Markit/JMMA flash Japan PMI jumped to a seasonally adjusted 52.4, up from 50.5 in July and the highest reading since March just before a hike in taxes sent demand cratering.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2230.46 | -9.75 | -0.44 |
Hang Seng | 24994.10 | -165.66 | -0.66 |
Jakarta Composite | 5206.14 | 15.97 | 0.31 |
KLSE Composite | 1874.81 | -4.08 | -0.22 |
Nikkei 225 | 15586.20 | 131.75 | 0.85 |
Straits Times | 3324.09 | 0.44 | 0.01 |
KOSPI Composite | 2044.21 | -28.57 | -1.38 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9253.38 | -34.67 | -0.37 |