TOKYO (`) – Asian stocks were mostly lower in quiet trading on Tuesday after U.S. markets were closed for Presidents Day.
Stocks fell in Tokyo, Sydney and Hong Kong but rose in Seoul and Shanghai. Analysts say worries of slowing and weakening demand remain in Asia as companies cope with rising energy and commodity costs and consumers restrain spending.
In Japan, a preliminary manufacturing indicator, the flash purchasing managers’ index, fell to 47.4 in February from 48.9 in the previous month. That was the weakest reading in more than two years.
The latest data from Australia, dubbed the Judo Bank PMI, showed private sector activity contracted for the fifth straight month. Although exports recovered with the help of China’s reopening after COVID-related restrictions were lifted, the sector showed little to no positive momentum. Unemployment has also risen in Australia.
“Distortions in Australia’s economy remain extreme and point only to a recession,” said Clifford Bennett, chief economist at ACY Securities, in a comment.
Tokyo’s benchmark, the Nikkei 225, fell 0.3% to 27,461.38 in morning trade. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.5% to 7,316.00. South Korea gained 0.1% to 2,457.83. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.6% to 20,768.85, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.5% to 3,305.86.
Analysts said concerns of slowing and weakening demand lingered as companies cope with rising energy and commodity costs and consumers restrained spending.
“The regional weakness also appears to reflect skepticism about the likely strength of China’s recovery based on the recent underperformance of Chinese equities,” said Stephen Innes, Managing Partner at SPI Asset Management.
It was unclear whether newly enacted rules for Chinese companies’ overseas listings had a material impact on trading.
China paved the way for more companies to join foreign exchanges, but enacted regulations that could make the share offering process more time-consuming, requiring stricter regulatory scrutiny beforehand.
This week there will be news on US manufacturing and housing, as well as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting, which could provide insight into the outlook for inflation and interest rates.
On Friday, Wall Street’s S&P fell 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6%.
In energy trading, benchmark US crude rose 15 cents to $76.70 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international price standard, lost 84 cents to $83.23 a barrel.
In forex trading, the US dollar rose to 134.44 Japanese yen from 134.26 yen. The euro cost $1.0664 compared to $1.0689.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
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