Japanese and Hong Kong stocks pulled back on Tuesday from earlier gains, as a weaker-than-expected gauge of Chinese manufacturing activity and overnight losses on U.S. stock markets dented sentiment.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index ditched 40.91 points, or 0.2%, to 19,713.45,
The yen strengthened versus the U.S. dollar to ¥119.55, compared with ¥120.14 late Monday in Tokyo.
The Hang Seng Index removed 94.91 points, or 0.4%, to 24,399.60.
The losses in the two markets came after HSBC released the “flash” version of its China manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index. The gauge fell to an 11-month low of 49.2 in March, below the 50 level dividing expansion from contraction. The index printed 50.7 in the final February read.
Also weighing on the markets were modest losses for U.S. stocks overnight.
In other markets
The Shanghai CSI 300 inched forward 0.99 points to 3,873.05
The Taiex index in Taiwan moved lower 26.43 points, or 0.3%, to 9,731.66
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index eked up 3.13 points, or 0.1%, to 3,413.26
The Kospi index in Korea recovered 4.78 points, or 0.2%, to 2,041.37
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 4.69 points, or 0.1%, to 5,870.54
The S&P/ASX index reacquired 12.95 points, or 0.2%, to 5,969.08
