Most markets in Asia were in the red as they closed on Thursday, with oil prices on the back foot amid American plans for another release from its petroleum reserves.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.73% at 27,821.43, as the yen weakened 0.17% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 122.04.
Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing managed gains of 0.06%, while among the benchmark’s other major components, robotics specialist Fanuc was down 0.87% and tech investing giant SoftBank Group was 1.3% lower.
The broader Topix index was off 1.08% by the end of trading in Tokyo, closing at 1,946.40.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was 0.44% weaker at 3,252.20, and the smaller, technology-centric Shenzhen Composite was 0.92% lower at 2,117.96.
Fresh data out of Beijing showed Chinese factory activity shrinking in March, with the official manufacturers’ purchasing managers’ index (PMI) coming in at 49.5 for the month.
That was less than the 50.2 reading for February, and below the 50-point level that separates expansion from contraction in PMI readings.
“Optimists had maintained that China’s refinement of zero-Covid policies – more targeted, more localised – meant the disruption to activity from efforts to bring Covid outbreaks under control would be less than in the past; unfortunately not,” quipped Pantheon Macroeconomics chief China economist Craig Botham.
“We may not be at the pain point seen during the first Wuhan outbreak, but March’s survey data still induces an intake of breath.”
Botham noted that most of the key subindices for manufacturing fell in March, with output dropping to 49.5 from 50.4, new orders falling to 48.8 from 50.7, and new export orders slipping to 47.2 from 49.0.
“This latter print hints at supply chain disruptions, given that domestic policies shouldn’t affect external demand, and this is backed up by the worsening of supplier delivery times, to 46.5 from 48.2.
“These are the worst, or second-worst, readings for everything except new export orders since February 2020.”
The imports component also fell, Botham said, to 46.9 from 48.6.
“China’s trade partners will reflect some of this pain in their own PMIs, and the world will likely see bottlenecks tighten again and input costs rise.”
South Korea’s Kospi went against the regional trend, rising 0.4% to 2,757.65, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was down 1.06% at 21,996.85.
Chinese internet giant Baidu was in focus in the special administrative region, losing 3.21% after it was added to a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) list of firms facing a possible delisting stateside.
The blue-chip technology stocks were on the back foot in Seoul as well, with Samsung Electronics down 0.43% and SK Hynix sliding 2.48%.
Oil prices were still lower as the region went to bed, with Brent crude futures last down 5.09% on ICE at $107.68 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate 5.5% weaker on NYMEX at $101.88.
The fall in prices for the thick black stuff came on the back of reports the Biden administration was planning to release one million barrels of oil per day from the United States’ strategic reserves.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% to 7,499.60, while across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 eked out gains of 0.1% to 12,110.26.
The down under dollars were both weaker against the greenback, with the Aussie last off 0.38% at AUD 1.3367, and the Kiwi retreating 0.65% to NZD 1.4428.
