Asian Stocks
Stocks in Asia opened lower on Thursday, tracking losses on Wall Street seen overnight before the release of the Chinese manufacturing data from HSBC due later in the day.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index fell 0.55% to 15,112.39 points, while Tokyo’s Topix index declined 0.65% to 1,228.40 points at the time of writing. The Japanese yen weakened against the US Dollar on Thursday, trading around 107.20 yen against 106.90 yen on Wednesday.
However, the soften yen failed to boost gains as Mazda Motor and Nissan Motors each slid 1.5% and Mitsubishi Motors declined by more than 3%. Financial stocks also saw losses, with Orix Corp down 3%, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holding lost 1.2% and Sumitomo Mitsui financial Group fell 1.4%.
On the upside, the Japanese transport company Mitsui O.S.K Lines climbed 1.8% after shipping rates jumped, while the pharmaceutical company Shionogi & Co rallied 2.8% during the early trading hours.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 0.38% to open at 23,314.57, while the Chinese benchmark Shanghai Composite slid 0.21% lower to trade at 2,321.66 points at the same time.
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In China, Wuhu Token Science and Beijing E-Hualu Information Technology each lost 6%, while Train-makers China CNR Corp and CSR Corp gained nearly 6.6% after receiving an approval for a railway investment worth 97.4 billion yuan.
The Chinese preliminary Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics is forecasted to remain steady at 50.2 in October, slightly above the 50 mark, which indicates expansion. A reading below 50 signifies contraction.
Earlier this week, a report released by the statistics bureau in Beijing showed that China’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the third quarter rose 7.35 year-on-year in the July-September period, the slowest pace since the first quarter of 2009.
The South Korean Kospi index slumped 0.08% to 1,935.36 points, clearing previous gains.
Australia
In Sydney, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.24% lower to 5,372.80 points at the time of writing, dragging mining stocks lower.
The nation’s largest miners, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto slumped 1.6% each, while Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources lost almost 4%.
The Business confidence in Australia remained steady from the previous quarter, coming in at 6%. A separate condition index climbed 1 to 3 in the third quarter.
Europe stocks
European stocks were seen trading lower on Thursday, despite the unexpected improvement seen in the latest PMI figures for October.
The European Euro Stoxx 50 declined 0.53% to 2,992.47. Germany’s DAX 30 fell 0.55% lower to 8,891.02 at the time of writing after a report revealed that the nation’s manufacturing sector expanded to 51.8 points in October from 49.9 recorded in the previous month. Germany’s services sector fell to 54.8 points from the previous figure of 55.7, but remained in the expansion territory.
The French CAC index fell 0.68% to 4,077.78 points, while the country’s flash manufacturing PMI dropped to 47.3 points in October from September’s 48.8. France’s services sector fell to 48.1 points, a report from Markit Economic showed.
The UK’s benchmark FTSE 100 declined 0.45% to 6,370.82 as the UK’s retail sales fell 0.3% in September on a monthly basis, compared to the 0.4% rise recorded in the previous month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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