Asia stocks mostly down as China manufacturing slows

AFP, HONG KONG: Asian markets fell yesterday as China shares were dragged down by poor manufacturing figures and investors followed a drop on Wall Street.
A private survey of Chinese manufacturing activity showed a decline to a two-year low in July, suggesting the world’s second largest economy faces challenges in the third quarter.
Shanghai fell 1.72 per cent in afternoon trade, while Hong Kong dropped 1.02 per cent.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 37.13 points to finish at 20,548.11, while South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI fell 21.67 points to close at 2,008.49.
Sydney eased 19.9 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 5,679.3 ahead of the central bank’s monthly monetary policy meeting Tuesday. Investor sentiment in China reflected the final reading of Caixin’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which came in at 47.8 for July.
The figure was below the 49.4 registered in June and was the weakest reading since 47.7 in July 2013, according to previous data, with a figure above 50 signalling growth and anything below indicating contraction.
An official purchasing managers’ index released at the weekend had already showing a decrease for the month, decelerating to 50.0 from 50.2 in June.
Technology and energy companies slumped in Shanghai, while analysts predicted China’s government would further ease credit in the second half of 2015 in an attempt to shore up growth.
“Fiscal policies will be the key to growth stabilisation measures in the second half,” Zhu Qibing, a Beijing-based macroeconomic analyst at China Minzu Securities Co., told Bloomberg News.
“The government’s recent signals and policy direction clearly show that a new round of fiscal stimulus is coming,” he said.
HSBC meanwhile announced Monday in Hong Kong that net profit fell 3.8 per cent in the three months to June, as the company agreed to sell its Brazilian business for $5.2 billion to Brazil’s Banco Bradesco.
But the company emphasised a rise in pre-tax profits, which went up 10 per cent over the six months, pushing shares up 1.40 per cent compared with Friday in afternoon trade.
Investors in Japan were meanwhile weighing earnings while energy-related shares were pushed lower as oil extended its biggest monthly drop in seven years.
Automaker Honda’s shares bucked the trend with an 8.77 per cent jump to 4,328 yen after it reported surging profits.

Asia stocks mostly down as China manufacturing slows

AFP, HONG KONG: Asian markets fell yesterday as China shares were dragged down by poor manufacturing figures and investors followed a drop on Wall Street. A private survey of Chinese manufacturing activity showed a decline to a two-year low in July, suggesting the worlds second largest economy faces challenges in the third quarter. Shanghai fell 1.72 per cent in afternoon trade, while Hong Kong dropped 1.02 per cent. Japans benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 37.13 points to finish at 20,548.11, while South Koreas benchmark KOSPI fell 21.67 points to close at 2,008.49. Sydney eased 19.9 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 5,679.3 ahead of the central banks monthly monetary policy meeting Tuesday. Investor sentiment in China reflected the final reading of Caixins Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which came in at 47.8 for July. The figure was below the 49.4 registered in June and was the weakest reading since 47.7 in July 2013, according to previous data, with a figure above 50 signalling growth and anything below indicating contraction. An official purchasing managers index released at the weekend had already showing a decrease for the month, decelerating to 50.0 from 50.2 in June. Technology and energy companies slumped in Shanghai, while analysts predicted Chinas government would further ease credit in the second half of 2015 in an attempt to shore up growth. Fiscal policies will be the key to growth stabilisation measures in the second half, Zhu Qibing, a Beijing-based macroeconomic analyst at China Minzu Securities Co., told Bloomberg News. The governments recent signals and policy direction clearly show that a new round of fiscal stimulus is coming, he said. HSBC meanwhile announced Monday in Hong Kong that net profit fell 3.8 per cent in the three months to June, as the company agreed to sell its Brazilian business for $5.2 billion to Brazils Banco Bradesco. But the company emphasised a rise in pre-tax profits, which went up 10 per cent over the six months, pushing shares up 1.40 per cent compared with Friday in afternoon trade. Investors in Japan were meanwhile weighing earnings while energy-related shares were pushed lower as oil extended its biggest monthly drop in seven years. Automaker Hondas shares bucked the trend with an 8.77 per cent jump to 4,328 yen after it reported surging profits.