Investing.com - Leading Asian share markets traded lower on Monday following a survey by HSBC on China manufacturing that showed an initial weaker reading for December than the final figure in November.
The Shanghai Composite fell 1.43 in the morning session and neighboring Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was off 0.70%. The Nikkei 225 also fell 0.70%.
Share investors said the HSBC Chinese manufacturing data for December, which showed a dip in the flash PMI estimate to 50.5 from the final of 50.8 in November, could still surprise on the upside when the final figures are released, but hinted at potentially weaker output.
"The December HSBC Flash China Manufacturing PMI reading slowed marginally from November's final reading," said HSBC chief China economist Qu Hongbin.
"But it still stands above the average reading for 3Q, implying that the recovering trend of the manufacturing sector starting from July still holds up. As a result, we expect China's GDP growth to stabilize at around 7.8% yoy in 4Q."
South Korea's Kospi was flat.
Last week, U.S. stocks posted slight gains after a cautious session on Friday as bargain hunters snapped up attractively-priced positions amid concerns the Federal Reserve is moving closer to tapering its USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases possibly as early as next week.
At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.10%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.01%, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.06%.
The Federal Reserve will hold a monetary policy meeting on Dec. 17-18, and surprisingly strong retail sales, consumer sentiment, employment and other indicators have many betting the U.S. central bank will announce plans to trim its asset-purchasing plan then or shortly afterwards, which watered down stock prices in recent sessions to levels ripe for bottom fishing on Friday.
Wholesale pricing data released earlier stoked expectations for the Fed to move next week or early in 2014.
But pockets of investors betting the Fed will hold off until early 2014 bolstered prices somewhat.
European indices, meanwhile, finished lower last week.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.17%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.23%, while Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.12%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished down 0.08%.
The Shanghai Composite fell 1.43 in the morning session and neighboring Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was off 0.70%. The Nikkei 225 also fell 0.70%.
Share investors said the HSBC Chinese manufacturing data for December, which showed a dip in the flash PMI estimate to 50.5 from the final of 50.8 in November, could still surprise on the upside when the final figures are released, but hinted at potentially weaker output.
"The December HSBC Flash China Manufacturing PMI reading slowed marginally from November's final reading," said HSBC chief China economist Qu Hongbin.
"But it still stands above the average reading for 3Q, implying that the recovering trend of the manufacturing sector starting from July still holds up. As a result, we expect China's GDP growth to stabilize at around 7.8% yoy in 4Q."
South Korea's Kospi was flat.
Last week, U.S. stocks posted slight gains after a cautious session on Friday as bargain hunters snapped up attractively-priced positions amid concerns the Federal Reserve is moving closer to tapering its USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases possibly as early as next week.
At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.10%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.01%, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.06%.
The Federal Reserve will hold a monetary policy meeting on Dec. 17-18, and surprisingly strong retail sales, consumer sentiment, employment and other indicators have many betting the U.S. central bank will announce plans to trim its asset-purchasing plan then or shortly afterwards, which watered down stock prices in recent sessions to levels ripe for bottom fishing on Friday.
Wholesale pricing data released earlier stoked expectations for the Fed to move next week or early in 2014.
But pockets of investors betting the Fed will hold off until early 2014 bolstered prices somewhat.
European indices, meanwhile, finished lower last week.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.17%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.23%, while Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.12%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished down 0.08%.