The preliminary Purchasing Managers’ Index from Caixin Media and Markit Economics was at 47.0 for September, missing the median estimate of 47.5 in a Bloomberg survey and below the final reading of 47.3 in the previous month.
Advertisement
Hong Kong stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday, buoyed by improved sentiment in global markets while investors focused on an upcoming meeting between China’s PresidentXi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama.
Financials also weighed on the bourse, as all four major lenders sank more than 1 percent each.
Concerns that auto giant Volkswagen could face a massive fine for cheating on emissions tests contributed the sell-off by European stocks.
Asian stocks headed for their biggest three-day loss since August’s market rout as Chinese shares tumbled in Hong Kong and Shanghai. The S&P/ASX 200 Index plunged 1.9 percent.
Meanwhile, markets in Japan remain shuttered for the Autumn Equinox holiday and are set to reopen Thursday. The benchmark Shanghai Composite has closed the morning session at 3115.9, a decline of 2.19%. The contract rose $2 to close at $46.68 a barrel on Monday in New York. Small-caps got off lightly on comparison; the Shenzhen Composite and the start-up board ChiNext notched down 1.4 and 0.8 percent respectively.
The CBC governor told parliament earlier in the day that monetary policy is “very loose” and indicated deflation was not a threat for the island, Reuters reported.
It was a broad-based slump in Sydney on Wednesday. TPG Telecom fell 4.6 percent after reporting its full-year results. Energy producers like Santos (: ) shaved off 1.2 percent. India’s Sensex was tumbling 1.8 percent in volatile trading, with heavyweight banking and metal stocks coming under selling pressure. Prices have decreased 13 percent this year.
Advertisement
Also bucking the downtrend was stationery maker Monami, which surged almost 30 percent. Market bellwether Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors rose over 3 percent each, and auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis jumped 5.1 percent as the South Korean won fell against the dollar.
