Mainland China’s CSI 300 was 6.22% higher, while Hang Seng index gained 3.34%
Stocks in mainland China rose more than 6% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 4.64% on Monday as investors assessed key economic data from the two countries.
China’s official PMI figure for September came in at 49.8. However, this marked a fifth consecutive month of decline for the manufacturing sector in China.
The Caixin PMI survey, which is a private survey compiled by S&P Global, reported that the manufacturing PMI declined to 49.3 from 50.4 in September.
The Caixin survey also marked the fastest decline in the manufacturing in 14 months.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 was 6.22% higher, with the property sector adding 7.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 3.34% following the release, powered by consumer stocks. The Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index surged 8%.
Separately in Japan, the Nikkei’s slide was led by losses in real estate stocks, while the biggest loser on the index was department store holding company Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, down 11%. The broad-based Topix declined 3.3%.
Industrial production in the country dropped 4.9% year on year in August, more than the 0.4% decline in the month before.
On a month-on-month basis, industrial production tumbled 3.3%.
The Japanese yen softened 0.13% against the dollar, trading at 142.38.
Japan’s August retail sales jumped 2.8% year on year, up from a revised 2.7% increase in July.
The moves in Japanese markets come as investors digest Shigeru Ishiba’s victory in the Liberal Democratic Party elections last Friday. He will succeed Fumio Kishida as Japan’s prime minister.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 0.72%, crossing its all-time high of 8,246.2.
South Korea’s Kospi stumbled 1.13%, and the small cap Kosdaq slid 1.21%.
