China’s factory activity data misses expectations; Asia Pacific markets are mixed

Officially made in China Purchasing Managers’ Index for November it reached 48, below the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction.

That was below the expectations of analysts polled by Reuters, who had forecast a reading of 49. The PMI for October was 49.2.

PMI readings are consistent and represent monthly changes in factory activity.

— Abigail Off

Australia’s consumer price index for October slowed to 6.9% year-on-year from 7.3% in September, according to a monthly indicator from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The growth in the prices of housing, food and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as transport led to an increase in the overall CPI indicator.

Hong Kong-listed shares of Bilibili jumped as much as 12.7% in the morning in Asia after the company exceeded revenue estimates for the third quarter of the year.

Net income was 5.79 billion Chinese yuan ($809.8 million), up 11% from the same period in 2021. Refinitiv Eikon estimates had forecast revenue of 5.52 billion yuan.

Net losses narrowed to 1.7 billion yuan, and average monthly active users rose 25% year-on-year.

US-listed shares of the company jumped 22% overnight, while Hong Kong shares were last up 8.47%.

— Abigail Off

Industrial production in South Korea and Japan fell in October.

of Japan pre-industrial production for October fell 2.6 percent from a month ago, more than expectations for a 1.5 percent drop, according to a Reuters poll.

The reading marked a second consecutive decline, following a 1.7% drop in the previous month.

of South Korea industrial production also fell 3.5% from a month ago, also below expectations for a 1% drop. The reading was the lowest since May 2020, when output fell 6.7%.

– Jihe Lee

China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for November is expected to be 49, below the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction, according to analysts polled by Reuters.

This is slightly lower than the reading of 49.2 reported in October.

PMI readings are consistent and represent monthly changes in activity.

— Abigail Off

Chinese health officials said officials were “closely monitoring” Covid developments when asked if protests in the region would lead to changes to their zero-Covid policy.

“China is monitoring and closely monitoring the virus as it evolves and mutates,” officials said, according to a translation of Tuesday’s briefing.

– Christine Wang, Evelyn Cheng

Goldman Sachs Global Head of Commodity Research Jeff Curry told CNBC that oil stocks have historically traded at a much higher premium to crude oil prices compared to current price levels.

For example, the price difference between SPDR Oil & Gas ETF and ICE Brent Crude futures contract was around $66.60 on Tuesday. This is significantly lower than the $104 gap recorded in early January 2017, according to Koyfin data, as the chart below shows.

Chinese health authorities released a plan to promote vaccination of the elderly, according to an announcement on the National Health Commission’s website.

Hong Kong-listed shares of CanSino Biologics continued its gains in the afternoon session and rose as much as 18% shortly after the announcement.

The notice said authorities should use multiple data points to accurately identify target groups for vaccinating the elderly.

Wall Street professionals are worried about the outlook for stocks and are urging investors to remain defensive. These margin growth stocks can be safe bets.

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— Zavier Ong

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 3.07 points, or 0.01%, higher after trading lower for most of the day. The index ended the day at 33,852.53.

Meanwhile, Nasdaq Composite ended down 0.59% to close at 10,983.78. The S&P 500 fell 0.16% to close at 3,957.63.

— Alex Haring