Hang Seng Index, CSI 300, gold, silver
A study of wealthy Chinese published this month by consultancy Oliver Wyman found that 22% of respondents to the May survey were negative about the economy. It slightly exceeds the 21% seen in October 2022, just before Beijing announced plans to ease its strict zero-Covid policy.
Dukai Photographer | An | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Monday as investors evaluated private data on China’s factory activity in January, while gold continued its losses from Friday.
Factory activity in China picked up pace in January as manufacturers ramped up production and loaded cargoes ahead of the extended Lunar New Year holiday, according to an exclusive survey released Monday.
RatingDog China General Manufacturing PMI, conducted by S&P Global, rose to 50.3 in January from 50.1 in the previous month, in line with analysts’ expectations of 50.3 in a Reuters survey. A reading above the 50 indicator indicates expansion, while a reading below it indicates contraction.
This was the strongest level since October, when the private survey PMI came in at 50.6.
of japan Nikkei 225 It increased by 0.13%, while Topix increased by 0.52%. South Korea’s Kospi index fell more than 2.5%, while the small-cap Kosdaq lost as much as 3%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.64%, while the mainland CSI 300 lost 0.68%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.57%.
Gold and silver became the center of attention after the sharp declines on Friday. Spot gold fell 5 percent to $4,612 per ounce, while silver fell 4 percent to $81,189 per ounce.
Silver prices, which have more than doubled in the past 12 months, fell nearly 30% last Friday, marking the metal’s worst one-day performance since 1980. Gold also fell by around 9%.
Futures contracts tied to major US indexes fell in early Asian trading as Wall Street began a new trading month, with traders eyeing Bitcoin after the weekend sell-off.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 143 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures fell 0.6 percent, while Nasdaq-100 futures lost nearly 1 percent.
Bitcoin falls below $80,000 for the first time since April; This shows that investors are taking more risks following sharp declines in gold and silver.
Bitcoin last traded around $76,700.
Last Friday, even though investors largely approved of US President Donald Trump’s appointment of Kevin Warsh to head the Federal Reserve, US stocks pulled back while technology stocks were in the doldrums.
Still, the S&P 500 posted gains in January despite Friday’s losses and choppy trading this month. The broad index fell 0.43% to 6,939.03 points, finishing its third consecutive day of decline.
Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased by 0.36 percent to 48,892.47 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite underperformed, falling 0.94%, ending the day at 23,461.82. All three indexes fell more than 1 percent at session lows.
— CNBC’s Anniek Bao, Fred Imbert, Alex Harring, Lisa Kailai Han and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
