Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading down in the early deals on Monday, following the weak lead from Wall Street on Friday and as data showed that activity in China's vast manufacturing sector continued to contract in October for an eight straight month. Official data released over the weekend also showed that China's factory activity shrunk in October for a third straight month. On Monday, a private gauge of China’s manufacturing activity, the Caixin China manufacturing purchasing managers index, rose to 48.3 in October, marking the eighth-straight month of contraction. The reading, which tends to capture more private enterprises than the official reading, was at 47.2 in September. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in activity, while one below that level signals contraction. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei share average fell on lackluster China economic surveys and weak US stocks, while investors traded on individual company earnings news. In addition, a stronger yen weighed on exporters' stocks. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia are also in negative territory. Bucking the trend, South Korea and Taiwan are edging up.
Nikkei 225 declined 393.81 points or 2.06% to 18,689.29, Hang Seng dropped 135.96 points or 0.60% to 22,504.08, Straits Times decreased 41.04 points or 1.37% to 2,957.31, Shanghai Composite slipped 0.74 points or 0.02% to 3,381.82, Jakarta Composite dipped 4.77 points or 0.11% to 4,450.41, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 2.56 points or 0.15% to 1,663.15.
On the flip side, KOSPI Index surged 3.64 points or 0.18% to 2,033.11, and Taiwan Weighted was up by 40.02 points or 0.47% to 8,594.33.