Heavy traffic jam with many cars on the road in Chaoyang District in Beijing, China.
Photography | Digital Vision | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Monday at the start of a data-packed week, with investors focusing on economic readings from several countries, including Japan, South Korea and China.
Over the weekend, China released the official PMI reading for November. The manufacturing PMI came in at 50.3 – its highest level since April – above the 50.2 expected by economists polled by Reuters. The manufacturing PMI came in at 50.1 in October.
China's non-manufacturing PMI fell to 50.0 from 50.2 in the previous month, while the composite PMI was flat at 50.8.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion in activity, while a reading below that indicates contraction.
On Monday, S&P Global Manufacturing PMI readings will be released for economies across Asia, including the Caixin PMI survey for China.
Australian retail sales rose 3.4% in October, the fastest year-on-year rise since May 2023.
Indonesia will reveal inflation figures for November later the same day.
South Korea Cosby Kosdaq rose 0.51%, and small-cap Kosdaq advanced 0.36%. Over the weekend, South Korea's preliminary trade data revealed that exports grew at their slowest pace since September 2023.
Exports grew 1.4% year-on-year in November, missing expectations of 2.8% growth of economists polled by Reuters and a sharp decline from the 4.6% rise in October.
However, the standard in Japan Nikki 225 The broad-based Topix fell 0.4%, while the broad-based Topix rose 0.36%.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose by 0.33%, while the CSI 300 Index in mainland China fell by 0.18%. The mainland Hang Seng Property Index rose 1.18% after growth in new home prices in China accelerated in November.
Australia Standard & Poor's/ASX 200 The day started with an increase of 0.28%.
On Friday in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 soared to new heights and recorded their best months of 2024 amid a shortened trading day.
The S&P 500 rose 0.56%, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.83%. The Dow Jones Index rose 188.59 points, or 0.42%. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 both hit new intraday highs and closed.
Some bullish momentum came from chip stocks, which emerged after Bloomberg reported that the Biden administration is considering imposing additional barriers to the sale of semiconductor equipment to China that have not been as strong as previously expected. Lam Research stock rose more than 3%, while Nvidia stock jumped more than 2%.
— CNBC's Alex Haring contributed to this report.
