A majority of markets in Asia posted gains on Monday despite the underwhelming Caixin services PMI.
The S&P/ASX 200 went up by 0.53 percent on most of its sub-indexes. Gold stocks kept its gains while major miners traded lower: Alacer Gold and Kingsgate went up by 3.14 percent and 3.7 percent respectively. The energy sub-index traded 0.28 percent under the flat line.
Markets in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan were closed for public holidays which prompted investors to keep an eye on the Mainland Chinese markets that have recently resumed trading after the week-long “Golden Week” holiday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell by about 0.3 percent.
Casino stocks listed in Hong Kong underperformed despite the “Golden Week” holiday lasted for an extra day more than usual. Galaxy Entertainment went down 2.62 percent, Wynn Macau, lost 2.44 percent and Sands China declined 2.44 percent.
According to Reuters, the Caixin services purchasing managers’ index revealed non-manufacturing activity in China grew at its slowest in nearly two years in September. The Caixin PMI was at 50.6 on the previous month a far cry from August’s 52.7 figure.
The Caixin composite PMI was at 51.4 in September. Below the 52.4 level in August.
The Australian dollar declined as it is oftentimes affected by economic data from China. The Australian dollar went down as low as $0.7763 after the release of the Caixin services PMI from $0.7776 and was last trading at $0.7767.
Over in the United States, stocks closed mixed on Friday after the data release. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down by 1.72 percent or 0.01, right under the flat line at 22,773.67 while the Nasdaq Composite went finished up 0.07 percent at 6,590.18.