Asian equity benchmarks are exhibiting mixed trend in early deals on Tuesday as investors digested better than expected manufacturing data from China and also awaited monetary policy decisions from the Bank of Japan as well as the Reserve Bank of Australia later in the day. Japanese stocks fell as disappointing earnings forecasts from some bellwether companies dented sentiment, and as investors were cautious ahead of the outcome of the Bank Of Japan's two-day policy meeting. Stocks in China and Hong Kong rose after an official survey showed the country's manufacturing sector expanded at a faster pace than expected in October. The official manufacturing PMI rose to 51.2 in October from 50.4 in September, adding to signs that the world’s second-largest economy is stabilizing. A measure below 50 indicates a contraction. China’s official nonmanufacturing purchasing managers index, a measure of activity outside factory gates, edged up to 54.0 in October from 53.7 in September. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, and Indonesia are higher. Bucking the trend, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia are modestly lower.
Hang Seng added 261.22 points or 1.14% to 23,195.76, Jakarta Composite rose 7.88 points or 0.15% to 5,430.43, Straits Times increased 15.58 points or 0.55% to 2,829.45 and Shanghai Composite was up by 10.25 points or 0.33% to 3,110.74.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 dipped 10.87 points or 0.06% to 17,414.15, Taiwan Weighted decreased 18.18 points or 0.20% to 9,271.94, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dropped 0.06 points to 1,672.40 and KOSPI Index was down by 3.45 points or 0.17% to 2,004.74.