Asia-Pacific equities traded in a tight range on Tuesday as investors awaited the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest interest rate decision and assessed a series of regional economic releases.
By 11:30 am AEST (1:30 am GMT), the S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3% and South Korea’s Kospi 200 gained 0.1%.
Economic data weighed on sentiment in Japan, where retail sales unexpectedly fell 1.1% year-on-year in August, missing forecasts for a 1% increase and reversing July’s 0.4% gain.
Industrial production also declined for a second straight month, dropping 1.2% from July and 1.3% from a year earlier, led by weakness in metal products and electronic machinery. The results were worse than expectations of a 0.8% decline.
South Korea posted its sharpest monthly fall in retail sales in 18 months, with spending sliding 2.4% from July. It was the first decline in four months.
Industrial output was flat in August following gains in the prior two months.
In China, the National Bureau of Statistics manufacturing PMI registered 49.8, above the 49.6 expected, marking the strongest reading since March despite remaining in contraction, while the non-manufacturing PMI came in slightly below market expectations at 50.
In Australia, preliminary building approvals fell 6%, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), well below expectations of a 3% gain.
Daniel Rossi, ABS head of construction statistics noted: “The drop in total dwellings was driven by an 8.1 per cent fall in private dwellings excluding houses, following a 25.8 per cent fall in July.”
In the U.S., Wall Street began the week on firmer ground. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%, the S&P 500 gained 0.6% and the Nasdaq advanced 0.4%.
Among commodities, Brent crude fell 3.1% to settle at US$67.09 per barrel, while spot gold surged 2% to a record US$3,847.88 per ounce.
Elsewhere in Asia, Chinese equities extended gains, with the Shanghai Composite up 0.9% to 3,862.5 and the CSI 300 advancing 1.5% to 4,620.5.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.9% to 26,822.2. India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.1% to 80,364.9, touching multi-week lows.
European equities closed Monday's session marginally higher. London’s FTSE 100 added 0.2% to 9,299.8, Frankfurt’s DAX was little changed at 23,745.1, and Paris’s CAC 40 edged up 0.1% to 7,880.9.
