In the realm of Asian stock markets, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 took a significant hit, sinking by 2.6% to 38,053.67 after Wall Street experienced a notable downturn. China, however, emerged as an exception to this trend, with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rising by 0.8% and the Shanghai Composite briefly climbing in morning trading before retracting by 0.1% in the afternoon to 3,276.52.
The manufacturing sector in China showed signs of recovery as factory activity returned to growth in October, with the official purchasing managers' index hitting 50.1, marking the end of five consecutive months of contraction. In contrast, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 experienced a 0.5% decline to 8,118.80 after its producer price index rose by 3.9% year-on-year, falling below the 4.0% mark for the first time since September 2023, as reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Despite the overall mixed performance across Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Taiwan's Taiex faced losses, impacted by various factors such as declines in major companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., a key supplier for Apple. Meanwhile, in the U.S., tech giants like Microsoft and Meta Platforms reported better-than-expected profit numbers, but their stocks still faced declines as investors focused on future spending concerns and revenue warnings.