SINGAPORE – Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed in trading on Wednesday, with investors watching market reactions to the publication of a private survey of Chinese factories in May.
Mainland China shares were mixed, with the Shanghai Composite below ground, while the Shenzhen component rose 0.419%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.74%.
China’s Caixin / Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index reached 48.1 on Wednesday, up from 46 in April, but still below the 50-degree mark that separates expansion from contraction.
We are in a relatively calm period, there was a risky environment that was caused by a certain degree of opening up in China.
Manishi Raichaudhuri
Head of Research for Equity in Asia and the Pacific, BNP Paribas
China’s official PMI for May, released on Tuesday, reached 49.6, up 47.4 from April. The May figure was above the 48.6 level expected by a Reuters poll.
PMI readings are consistent and represent a monthly widening or contraction.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.61%, while the Topix index rose 1.19%.
In Australia, the S & P / ASX 200 rose 0.11%. Australia’s gross domestic product grew by 0.8% quarter-on-quarter in seasonally adjusted chain volumes in the first quarter, according to the country’s statistics bureau on Wednesday. This was above expectations in a Reuters poll for a profit of 0.5%.
MSCI’s broadest index for Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan traded 0.41% lower.
“We are in a relatively calm period, there is a risky environment caused by a certain degree of openness in China,” Manishi Raichaudhuri, head of the Asia-Pacific equity research at BNP Paribas, told CNBC Street Signs. Asia on Wednesday. “There was also a commentary, saying that the perception of risk is too high among institutional investors.”
“However, we must keep in mind that we are now on the verge of entering a period of very serious tightening of monetary policy,” he added. “We need to prepare for the impact for at least the next quarter.”
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Markets in South Korea are closed on Wednesday for the holiday.
Overnight on the Wall Street S&P 500 fell 0.63% to 4132.15. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 222.84 points, or 0.67%, to 32,990.12 points. The technology Nasdaq Composite fell 0.41% to 12,081.39.
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