Asian stocks mixed as China factory data disappoints

Elaine Kurtenbach, The Associated Press</span>
Published Tuesday, May 2, 2017 2:15AM EDT

TOKYO -- Shares were mixed in Asia after an upbeat day on Wall Street. Weaker than expected China manufacturing data appeared to have a muted impact.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's Nikkei 225 index advanced 0.6 per cent to 19,431.66, helped by a weaker yen, which boosts profits for manufacturers. South Korea's Kospi jumped 0.9 per cent to 2,224.81. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong edged a fraction of 0.1 per cent lower to 24,606.76 and the Shanghai Composite index gave up 0.3 per cent to 3,144.62. Australia's S&P ASX 200 fell 0.3 per cent to 5,940.60, while shares were higher in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

CHINA MANUFACTURING: The Caixin China purchasing managers survey found Chinese factories slowed production and slashed jobs in April as new orders weakened. The index fell to 50.3 from 51.2 in March, on a scale of 0-100 with readings above 50 indicating expansion. An official survey released earlier showed similar trends. "The latest PMI readings support our view that growth in China peaked at the turn of the year and is now decelerating," Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a commentary.

WALL STREET: U.S. stocks rose Monday as big technology companies like Apple continued to rally. Investors bought stocks and sold bonds and gold after Congress agreed to a deal that will keep the government operating for the rest of the fiscal year, averting a shutdown, so they bought riskier stocks and sold government bonds, gold, and high-dividend stocks. The VIX, an index that is seen as a measure of the market's anxiety level, fell to its lowest level since February 2007. The Standard & Poor's 500 index picked up 0.2 per cent to 2,388.33. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.1 per cent to 20,913.46 as Boeing and IBM lagged. Gains for tech companies pushed the Nasdaq composite up 0.7 per cent to 6,091.60, another record high.

U.S. GOVERNMENT SPENDING: The House of Representatives is due to vote Wednesday on a spending bill that would fund most government operations through September. The bill does not include the border wall U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed, and rejects his proposed cuts to popular domestic programs.

ANALYST VIEWPOINT: "After all the political events were settled, at least temporarily, the market focus now turns to corporate earnings season. So far, over 80 per cent of the S&P 500 companies have announced positive surprises in their first-quarter earnings," said Margaret Yang of CMC Markets Singapore.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude shed 19 cents to $48.65 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 49 cents, or 1 per cent, to $48.84 a barrel on Monday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, slipped 13 cents to $51.39 a barrel. It declined 53 cents, or 1 per cent, to $51.52 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 111.99 yen from 111.84 yen. The euro advanced to $1.0921 from $1.0898.

Let's block ads! (Why?)