By Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Asian stocks sat mostly lower
Monday amid concerns about the U.S. fiscal cliff, but with Chinese
shares gaining ground after manufacturing data showed that sector
extending its recovery.
Volume was reportedly light as many markets were shut for
holiday or on a shortened trading day.
With U.S. lawmakers yet to make a deal to avert the host of
austerity measures known as the "fiscal cliff" due to begin taking
effect Tuesday, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5%, Singapore's
Straits Times Index dropped 0.9%, and New Zealand's NZX 50 lost
0.4%.
Bourses in Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan were all
closed for holiday, though Japanese Nikkei Stock Average futures
were down 0.7% in Singapore trade.
In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index opened lower but later
clawed back up to the flat-line after the upbeat Chinese
manufacturing data from HSBC, while the Shanghai Composite Index
also bucked the downtrend to rise 0.8%, extending its recent
gains.
HSBC reported Monday morning that its China manufacturing
Purchasing Managers' Index rose to a final reading of 51.5, an
upward revision from the preliminary 50.9 result and an improvement
from November's PMI of 50.5.
The result was the best for the data set since May 2011,
according to Dow Jones Newswires.
Major advances in Hong Kong included a 1.8% rise for auto maker
BYD Co. (002594.SZ), a 2.8% improvement for luggage manufacturer
Samsonite International SA (SMSOF), and a 2.3% gain for food
company Want Want China Holdings Ltd. (WWNTF).
Shares of brokerages and insurers were also among the leading
gainers in Hong Kong, continuing their recent rally. China
Everbright Ltd. (0165.HK) jumped another 2.8%, Haitong Securities
Co. rose 1.8%, China Life Insurance Co. (LFC) added 1.6%, and Ping
An Insurance Group Co. (PNGAY) improved by 1%.
The insurers' gains were even more pronounced for their
Shanghai-listed shares, with Ping An rising 2.3%, and China Life
surging 3.3%, while among banks, China Merchants Bank Co.
(600036.SH) added 2.9% and Bank of Communications Co. (601328.SH)
improved by 1.9%.
The situation for resource shares was more mixed, as concern
about the fiscal cliff weighed, with Hong Kong-listed shares of
Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. (ACH) and Angang Steel Co. (ANGGY)
losing 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively.
In Sydney, where the mining sector occupies an outsized
weighting on the benchmark index, resource shares were
significantly weaker, with Alumina Ltd. (AWC) losing 1.6%, Rio
Tinto Ltd. (RIO) falling 0.9%, and Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCMGF)
retreating 1.3%.
Among the few major gainers in Sydney, Fairfax Media Ltd.
(FFXLF) rallied 8.4% after Australian media magnate John
Singleton's Gutenberg Investments took a stake in the company
According to a filing, the Gutenberg stake was associated with
that of major shareholder and mining magnate Gina Rinehart, with
the pair's combined voting power at 15.14%.
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