Investing.com - Asian shares dipped on Monday as investors fretted over China's ability to regain economic momentum, though a private survey on manufacturing did come in better-than-expected.
The S&P/ASX fell 1.33%, while the Shanghai Composite eased 0.14% and the Nikkei 225 was down 2.20%.
The Caixin manufacturing index for October rose to 48.3 with against 47.5 expected and up from last month's 47.2.
In Australia, the AI Group manufacturing survey fell 1.9 points to 50.2. The TD Securities-Melbourne Institute inflation gauge for October was unchanged from the previous month as tradable inflation fell for the first time in four months and the pace of non-tradable inflation remained stable.
Also in Australia, building approvals rose 2.2%, better than the 2.0% gain seen, and supporting the Reserve Bank's forecast for continued growth in building construction. The RBA's latest view on housing construction will be seen in the quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy due Friday.
China's weak start to the fourth quarter was evident by the two official PMIs released over the weekend, suggesting that the economy is showing little response to this year's monetary easing.
The official manufacturing PMI for October, released on Sunday by the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, came in with a reading of 49.8, the same as September, below the 50 level that marks contraction and expansion.
The official non-manufacturing PMI, also released on Sunday, slipped to 53.1 from 53.4 in September, the lowest reading since December 2008.
The PMIs offer the latest evidence that the economy is under increasing stress. China's biggest industrial companies are coming out with lousy nine-month results.
Premier Li Keqiang gave words of reassurance over the weekend that the economy can maintain "medium to high-level growth" for some time, and that China's consumption has "a lot of room to grow."
But even after the PBOC's interest-rate cut last month, the sixth in under a year, real interest rates for borrowers are still high.
The reserve ratio for banks is also high -- 17.5% for the major banks - so the PBOC has a lot of scope to reduce them even more. But the central bank may prefer to use more targeted measures through its medium-term lending facility and standing lending facility.
Last week, U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Financials, Technology and Consumer Goods sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.52%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.48%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.40%.