Asia markets mixed as China's factory activity contracts; Adani shares fall on fresh allegations

A worker makes toys for export to South Korea at a workshop in Chongqing, China, April 4, 2023.
CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images

This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Thursday as China's factory activity contracted for a fifth straight month in August.

In India, Adani stocks fell amid fresh allegations of trade manipulation. Adani Green Energy led losses, falling about 3.6% while Adani Enterprises fell 2.1%.

The official manufacturing purchasing managers index came in at 49.7, representing a softer rate of contraction compared with the 49.4 expected by economists polled by Reuters and July's figure of 49.3.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slid 0.55% in its final hour of trade, paring earlier gains. Mainland Chinese stocks were also in negative territory, with the CSI 300 index down 0.61% and closing at 3,765.27.

Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced 0.88% and notched a four-day winning streak, closing at 32,619.34 and the Topix was up 0.8% to end at 2,332.

The country saw its retail sales jump more than expected in July, climbing 6.8% year on year, compared with the 5.4% rise expected by a Reuters poll.

The Australian S&P/ASX 200 extended gains, rising 0.1% and marking four straight days of gains this week.

However, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.19% to 2,556.27 as industrial production slid 8% year-on-year in July, marking its 10th straight month of contraction. The Kosdaq was 0.5% higher and finished at 928.4.

On Wednesday in the U.S., all three major indexes gained, with the S&P 500 notching a four-day winning streak, as investors assess new U.S. economic data.

U.S. annual gross domestic product growth for the second quarter was downwardly revised on Wednesday to 2.1% from the previous 2.4% forecast.

The broad-market index climbed 0.38%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.11%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.54%.

— CNBC's Brian Evans and Alex Harring contributed to this report

Adani shares fall across the board after fresh allegations of stock manipulation

Shares of Adani Enterprises, as well as its subsidiaries tumbled after fresh allegations of stock manipulation from global investigative journalism network Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

OCCRP alleged that two men who secretly invested in the Adani group have close ties to its majority owners, "raising questions about violations of Indian law."

In response, Adani said they "categorically reject" those allegations, saying it was a bid to "revive the meritless Hindenburg report."

The report by U.S. based short seller Hinderburg in January accused Adani of improper business dealings, including stock price manipulation.

Adani Enterprises fell 3%, while Adani Green Energy led losses among the groups subsidiaries and fell nearly 3.5%. Shares of Adani Ports lost 2.8%, while other Adani units also slipped 2-3% Thursday.

— Lim Hui Jie

Consumer spending in China bounced back in August, survey finds

Consumer spending bounced back in August after a tepid July, according to the China Beige Book's survey of Chinese businesses released Thursday.

That's based on a survey conducted Aug. 17 to 25 of 1,300 businesses, the majority of which were not state owned.

However, China's massive property sector continued to worsen in August, the survey found.

— Evelyn Cheng

Baidu shares rise 3% after getting green light for Ernie bot

Chinese tech giant Baidu shares rose more than 3% in U.S. trading overnight after announcing the company's ChatGPT-like Ernie bot was now available to the mass public.

Hong Kong-traded shares also rose more than 3% as of morning trading Thursday.

Previously, Ernie bot was only available to select users who joined a waitlist. The news also signaled regulators' softer stance on tech and artificial intelligence.

— Evelyn Cheng

China's manufacturing PMI contracts again in August

China's factory activity shrank for the fifth straight month, with the country's official manufacturing purchasing managers index coming in at 49.7 in August.

This was a smaller contraction compared to the 49.4 expected by economists polled by Reuters, and the 49.3 in July.

Non-manufacturing PMI weakened for the fifth straight month to 51.0, down from 51.5 in July, while composite PMI stood at 51.3, marking its first rise in four months.

— Lim Hui Jie

South Korea's industrial production contracts for 10th straight month; retail sales fall in July

South Korea's industrial production contracted for a tenth straight month, falling 8% in July from a year ago.

This was a steeper fall than the 5.2% drop expected by economists polled by Reuters, and extends the 5.9% loss seen in June.

Separately, July retail sales fell 3.2% from the prior month, a reversal from the 0.9% rise in June.

— Lim Hui Jie

Japan retail sales jump more than expected in July

Japan's retail sales rose more than expected in July, climbing 6.8% year on year.

This was sharply higher than the 5.4% rise expected by economists polled by Reuters, and also higher than a revised figure of a 5.6% gain in June.

This is the highest rate of increase since May 2021's 8.2% jump, barring a 7.2% rise in March.

— Lim Hui Jie

CNBC Pro: Look beyond the 'Magnificent Seven' tech stocks, analyst says — and names 5 top picks

When it comes to picking stocks, Hannah Gooch-Peters of asset management firm Sanlam Investments UK avoids chasing trends.

She said she believes investors need to look beyond the "Magnificent Seven," referring to Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — tech stocks that have made massive gains this year.

The global equity investment analyst told CNBC Pro Talks that the firm looks for high-quality companies all over the world, and shared her "very specific" definition of quality.

Gooch-Peters names her top five stock picks.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about them here.

— Weizhen Tan

CNBC Pro: UBS says this is how to play China right now — and shares its top stock picks

Analysts at UBS have detailed how to play a volatile Chinese market in the short term.

"Under our expectation for further policy support that will be both effective and rolled out promptly, Chinese equities remain most preferred within our Asia strategy," the bank's analysts said in a note to investors.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read about some of its stock picks here.

— Lucy Handley

Second-quarter gross domestic product growth revised down

Economic growth expanded at a 2.1% annual clip in the second-quarter, the government said Wednesday, which is a slight downward revision from the preliminary 2.4% estimate.

Other revisions also include personal consumption, which ticked up slightly to 1.7%.

— Brian Evans

CNBC Pro: Look beyond the 'Magnificent Seven' tech stocks, analyst says — and names 5 top picks

When it comes to picking stocks, Hannah Gooch-Peters of asset management firm Sanlam Investments UK avoids chasing trends.

She said she believes investors need to look beyond the "Magnificent Seven," referring to Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — tech stocks that have made massive gains this year.

The global equity investment analyst told CNBC Pro Talks that the firm looks for high-quality companies all over the world, and shared her "very specific" definition of quality.

Gooch-Peters names her top five stock picks.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about them here.

— Weizhen Tan

4-day rally in S&P 500 pares month-to-date loss to -1.6% from -5.5%

The latest, four-day boomlet in U.S. stocks has pared August's decline in the S&P 500 to just 1.6% now — from a loss of -5.53% as recently as the intraday low on August 18 when the benchmark index touched its low for the month at 4335. 31.

The S&P 500 has climbed as much as 3.32% over the past four trading sessions, using Wednesday's high water mark of 4,521.65.

Of the S&P's 11 major sectors, only energy (+1.1%) and health care (+0.5%) are higher in August. As yields have backed up this month, utilities are the worst-performing group, slumping -6%.

— Scott Schnipper

ADP report shows slower-than-expected job growth

The ADP private payrolls report showed slower-than-expected job growth in August.

Private employers added 177,000 jobs in August, according to ADP, well below the revised total of 371,000 jobs added in July. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were expecting 200,000 jobs added in August.

The firm also said that pay growth slowed for workers who changed jobs and those who stayed in their current positions.

—Jesse Pound

History points to more gains from here for stocks

Despite September being a historically tough month for stocks, investors may want to brace for even more gains through year-end. Bank of America pointed out that, "since 1950, strong performance in the S&P 500 in the first seven months of the year (>15%) has been followed by average returns of 5% through December."

The S&P 500 jumped 19.5% from January to the end of July. For the year, it's up 17%.

— Fred Imbert, Michael Bloom

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