Dipo Olowookere
By Investors Hub
Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Monday even as trading volumes remained light amid holidays in South Korea, China, India and Hong Kong.
Official data released over the weekend showed activity in China’s vast manufacturing sector grew at the fastest pace since 2012 in September, helping ease growth worries ahead of an upcoming political meeting next month.
Another report from South Korea showed that the country’s exports surged 35 percent year-on-year in September, aided by higher memory chip and steel product sales.
Japanese shares rose as the yen weakened against the dollar and Tankan survey results showed that business confidence among large manufacturers improved in the third quarter to the highest in a decade.
Separately, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed that the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in September, and at a faster pace, with a manufacturing PMI score of 52.9, up from 52.2 in August.
The Nikkei average rose 44.50 points or 0.22 percent to 20,400.78, with caution towards the Oct. 22 snap election serving to limit the potential upside. The broader Topix index closed marginally lower at 1,673.62.
Mitsubishi Motors, Fanuc and Yokohama Rubber climbed 2-3 percent. Nissan Motor shares fell 2.7 percent to extend losses for the fourth straight session after the automaker temporarily suspended registrations of around 60,000 new vehicles.
Australian shares rose sharply as a weaker Aussie dollar and upbeat factory activity data from China helped lift export-related miners. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index jumped 47.70 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 5,729.30.
BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group rose 1-2 percent, while South32 jumped as much as 4.9 percent. Beach Energy soared more than 10 percent as shares resumed trading after a deal to buy Origin Energy’s upstream oil and gas business for $1.2bn.
Origin Energy lost 1.1 percent, while Oil Search, Woodside Petroleum and Santos rose between 0.7 percent and 1.4 percent. Banks ANZ, Commonwealth and Westpac ended up over 1 percent each.
On the economic front, the latest survey from the Australian Industry Group showed that Australia’s manufacturing sector continued to expand in September, albeit at a much slower pace.
