Asia-Pacific shares trade mostly lower; China manufacturing activity shows growth

Asia-Pacific shares traded mostly down on Tuesday as investors digested a range of economic data and a potential interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.75%. Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite dipped 0.42% to 3,255.67 and the Shenzhen Component was down 0.8% to close at 12,001.26 as China’s official manufacturing PMI reported a reading of 50.1, above the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed slightly below the flatline at 7,476.7. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended 0.39% down at 27,327.11 and the Topix lost 0.36% to 1,975.27 as Japan reported an unemployment rate of 2.5% for December, in line with expectations.

South Korean benchmark Kospi declined 1% to 2,425.08 while the Kosdaq added 0.25% to 740.49 after South Korea logged a 7.3% drop for December’s year-on-year industrial output, steeper than Reuters’ expectations of a 5.1% fall.

The International Monetary Fund also revised upward its global growth projections for 2023, but cautioned that higher interest rates and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would likely still weigh on activity.

Investors are also looking ahead towards trade data from Thailand.

Overnight in the U.S., major indexes fell, bracing for the busiest week of earnings season and the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, where the Fed is expected to hike rates by one-quarter of a percentage point.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/31/asia-pacific-shares-fed-earnings-economic-data.html