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Homeasia marketsShanghai shares chalk up 10-day winning streak

Shanghai shares chalk up 10-day winning streak

Asian stocks turned mixed late Tuesday as negative impact from the weaker-than-expected China's HSBC flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) subsided.

The preliminary survey of the mainland's mammoth factory sector for March surprisingly fell to 49.2, marking an 11-month low, and serving up fresh worries over China's growth momentum. Last month, the final HSBC/Markit PMI climbed to 50.7 – the strongest level since July – while the country's official survey remained a whisker below the 50-point level, which separates growth from contraction, at 49.9.

An unimpressive lead from Wall Street also damped sentiment; U.S. stocks edged lower as investors looked ahead to a light week of economic reports amid fluctuations in the greenback.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 turned negative at the close, down 0.1 and 0.2 percent each, to trade just below all-time highs. The tech-heavy Nasdaq sagged 0.3 percent, but held above the 5,000 mark.

Shanghai Comp up 0.1%

After plummeting over 1 percent in the morning session due to a lower-than-expected flash PMI reading, China's Shanghai Composite eked out a modest gain to extend its winning streak to the tenth consecutive session.

Blue-chip developers such as China Merchants Property and Poly Real Estate led declines with a more than 3 percent slump each. Meanwhile, brokerages such as Haitong Securities and Founder Securities sold off more than 2 percent, respectively, while the country's biggest securities firm Citic Securities tanked 2.6 percent despite seeing its profits last year double.

Anhui Conch Cement also overlooked positive news of a 17.2 percent on-year rise in 2014 net profit. Its shares closed down 2.7 percent Tuesday.

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