Investing.com - Asian shares were mixed on Thursday with a solid manufacturing PMI from China failing to lift Shanghai or Hong Kong though other markets gained on local data sets.
In Greater China, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.65%, while the Hang Seng index dipped 0.56%.
The official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index in China came in at 51.7 in August, beating expectations, data released Thursday showed.
Analysts polled by Reuters expected China to post official PMI of 51.3 for August, a tick down from 51.4 in July. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below that signals contraction. The non-manufacturing, or services, came in at 53.4 in August, down from 54.5.
In Japan, provisional industrial production data for July fell 0.8%, more than a 0.5% decline expected. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.74%. Toshiba's attempt to sell its memory chip unit was back in the spotlight after Reuters reported a consortium led by Bain Capital had made a last-minute bid of around $18 billion.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and South Korea's SK Hynix are part of the consortium, Reuters said. Toshiba has set an Aug. 31 deadline to complete an agreement for the sale of its memory business with another consortium involving Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC). Toshiba's stock was off 0.32%.
In Australia, private new capital expenditure for the second quarter jumped 0.8%, well above a 0.3% gain seen and private sector credit for July came in as expected, up 0.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.73%.
Overnight, U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday, buoyed by data showing the economy remains on track to post strong growth in the third quarter, lifting investor sentiment on riskier assets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower at 21,892. The S&P 500 closed 0.46% higher while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6368.31, up 1.05%.
In what was a seasonally low-volume trading day, U.S. stocks pared early session losses as risk appetite returned, following private sector job creation and economic growth data that topped expectations.
ADP employment data for August estimated private-sector payrolls rose by 237,000 compared a consensus estimates of 185,000.
The stronger-than-expected private payrolls report, which often serves as a precursor to monthly nonfarm payrolls data slated for Friday, pointed to continued strength in the U.S. labor market, easing expectations the Federal Reserve may abandon its plan to hike rates later this year.
The Commerce Department raised its estimate of second-quarter GDP growth to an annual rate of 3% from 2.6% previously, beating economists’ forecasts of 2.8%.
Meanwhile, on the corporate news front, shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) hit all-time highs amid rising expectations that the tech giant will unveil its iPhone at a product launch on September 12.
The upturn in sentiment comes a day after investor concerns over escalating geopolitical tensions faded, following President Donald Trump’s somewhat measured response to North Korea’s missile launch over Japan.
A slump in energy stocks, however, limited gains on the broader market as crude oil futures settled 1% lower after the nation’s largest oil refinery, Port Arthur, was forced to shut down as Storm Harvey continued to wreak havoc in Texas.