Nikkei 225 added 0.4% to 38,797.61, S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.3% to 8,067.00, Kospi added around 0.1% to 2,676.28, Hang Seng slid 1.3% to 17,752.09 and the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.5% to 2,828.84
Asian shares were mixed in cautious trading Monday ahead of the Labor Day holiday in the U.S., when stock exchanges will be shut.
Investors were also looking ahead to the U.S. employment report set for release Friday for an indication of the strength of the American economy.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.4% in morning trading to 38,797.61, after the Finance Ministry reported capital spending by Japanese firms in the April-June quarter rose 7.4% from the previous year.
After a period of stagnation, Japan’s economy is showing signs of a recovery. Next week, Japan will release revised GDP data, a measure of the value of a nation’s goods and services. The preliminary data released earlier showed the first growth in two quarters.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.3% to 8,067.00, while South Korea’s Kospi added around 0.1% to 2,676.28. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 1.3% to 17,752.09. The Shanghai Composite slipped 0.5% to 2,828.84.
A bit of pessimism rolled in over China’s growth prospects over the weekend, as its National Bureau of Statistics reported that August manufacturing PMI, a barometer of industrial output, declined from 49.4 to 49.1. That was weaker than market forecasts.
Wall Street closed last week broadly up. The S&P 500 gained 1% during the week, with around 76% of the stocks in the index notching gains. The benchmark S&P 500 ended August with a 2.3% gain for the month. It is now up 18.4% so far this year and is within 0.4% of the all-time high it set in July.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6% on Friday, setting its fourth all-time high this week. The Nasdaq composite closed 1.1% higher.
Recent reports on the U.S. economy, including inflation, consumer spending and income, have been encouraging. The Commerce Department said its personal consumption and expenditures (PCE) report showed prices increased 0.2% from June to July, up marginally from the previous month’s 0.1% rise.
That means price rises are slowing down, and that is likely to lead to the Fed lowering interest rates for the first time in more than four years. The market expects the Federal Reserve will start reducing rates later this month.
