A study of affluent Chinese released this month by consulting firm Oliver Wyman found that 22% of respondents were negative about the economy when surveyed in May. It just exceeds the 21% seen in October 2022, just before Beijing announced plans to ease its stringent zero-Covid policy.
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Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Monday as investors assessed private data for China’s factory activity in January, while gold extended losses from Friday.
China’s factory activity gathered speed in January, according to a private survey released Monday, as manufacturers accelerated production and loaded cargoes ahead of the extended Lunar New Year holiday.
The RatingDog China General Manufacturing PMI, conducted by S&P Global, rose to 50.3 in January from 50.1 the previous month, in line with analysts’ expectations of 50.3 in a Reuters poll. A reading above the 50 benchmark indicates an expansion, while one below that suggests contraction.
That marked the strongest level since October, when the private-surveyed PMI came in at 50.6.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.13%, while the Topix added 0.52%. South Korea’s Kospi declined over 2.5%, while the small-cap Kosdaq lost as much as 3%.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index declined 1.64%, while the mainland CSI 300 is down 0.68%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 1%.
Gold and silver are in focus after Friday’s sharp declines. Spot gold was trading 5% lower at $4,612 per ounce, while silver slid around 4% to $81.189 per ounce.
Silver prices, which had more than doubled over the past 12 months, plunged around 30% last Friday, marking the metal’s worst one-day performance since 1980. Gold also dropped around 9%.
Futures tied to the main U.S. benchmarks fell during early Asia hours as Wall Street begins a new month of trading, with traders keeping an eye on bitcoin after a weekend sell-off.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 143 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.6%, while Nasdaq-100 futures shed nearly 1%.
Bitcoin dropped below $80,000 for the first time since April, a sign investors were taking more risk off the table following the sharp declines in gold and silver.
Bitcoin last traded around $76,700.
Last Friday, U.S. stocks retreated as technology shares remained in a funk, even as investors largely approved of U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve.
Still, the S&P 500 squeaked out a January gain, despite Friday’s losses and volatile trading this month. The broad index fell 0.43% to finish at 6,939.03, its third straight down day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back 0.36%, to settle at 48,892.47. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite underperformed, dropping 0.94%, to end the day at 23,461.82. All three indexes fell more than 1% at session lows.
— CNBC’s Anniek Bao, Fred Imbert, Alex Harring, Lisa Kailai Han and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
