By Chao Deng
Stocks in Asia were mixed on Monday following the latest data on
Chinese manufacturing, with markets in Australia and Hong Kong
falling slightly while Shanghai gained.
Australia's S&P ASX fell 0.4% to 5506.90 and Hong Kong's
Hang Seng was down 0.3% at 23915.97. The Shanghai Composite Index
rose 0.4% to 2430.03. Tokyo was closed for a holiday.
HSBC's China manufacturing purchasing managers index on Monday
had a final reading of 50.4 for October, unchanged from a
preliminary reading and up from 50.2 in September. On Saturday,
however, China's official manufacturing gauge came in at a
five-month low of 50.8 for October.
Mainland shares listed in Hong Kong were hardest hit, with the
Hang Seng China Enterprises Index falling 0.9% to 10660.24.
Mainland property stocks escaped the broader decline following
reports that China won't introduce a long-awaited property tax
until 2017. Shares of residential property developer Greentown
China Holdings Ltd. rose 5.3% to HK$8.50. and KWG Property Holding
Ltd. gained 5.8% to HK$5.69.
South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.6% to 1952.97, after HSBC's
October manufacturing PMI reading for the country fell to 48.7 from
48.8 in September, marking the second-straight month of
contraction, even after the Bank of Korea cut interest rates twice
this year.
In Australia, shares of Woolworths fell 4.9% after the country's
biggest retailer said sales revenue in the three months through
September rose by a worse-than-expected 3% from a year earlier.
Stocks in Tokyo had jumped to their highest level in nearly
seven years Friday after the Bank of Japan said it would increase
asset purchases for the first time in more than a
year-and-a-half.
The U.S. dollar continued to rise against the Japanese yen after
trading at a six-year high Friday. The dollar(USDJPY) was last at
Yen112.84, up from Yen112.34 late Friday in New York.
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