Commercial and residential buildings are seen from the roof of Lotte World Tower at sunset, Tuesday, November 28, 2023, in Seoul, South Korea.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Monday as investors assessed weekend data on Chinese business activity while awaiting a slew of data later in the week.
China released official purchasing managers index data for August. Manufacturing PMI fell to Six-month low 49.1The contraction is faster compared with July’s 49.4.
The number was also lower than the median forecast of 49.5 by economists polled by Reuters, with the index in contraction territory for the fourth straight month.
On the other hand, China’s non-manufacturing PMI climbed to 50.3 from 50.2 in July.
Economic data releases from major markets in the region include South Korea’s inflation data, Australia’s second-quarter GDP data and Japan’s wage and household spending data later this week.
Hongkong Hang Seng Index Dragged down by real estate stocks, the CSI 300 Index opened down 1.21%, or 0.42%.
in addition, Caixin Manufacturing PMI Manufacturing activity improved in August, widening to 50.4 from 49.8 in July, beating expectations of 50.0 in a Reuters poll of economists.
Japanese Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.35%, while the Topix gained 0.11%. The Nikkei index briefly exceeded the 39,000-point mark earlier in the session, the first time since July 31 that the index has exceeded 39,000 points.
In contrast, South Korea Cospi The small-cap Kosdaq index edged higher, while the small-cap Kosdaq index fell 0.30%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.27%.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a new high on Friday, with the blue-chip index rising 0.55% to close at 41,563.08 points. The S&P 500 rose 1.01%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.13%.
Traders on Friday also assessed key inflation data that the Federal Reserve is closely watching.
The personal consumption expenditures price index in July increased by 0.2% on a monthly basis and 2.5% on an annual basis, in line with the expectations of economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
Excluding food and energy, prices also rose 0.2% month-on-month.
—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
About The Author
