MUMBAI, India — Signs of strengthening Chinese manufacturing werent enough to broadly lift world markets, as investors await key US economic data and digest a slew of bad earnings reports.
Theres no new stimulus packages, said Andrew Holland, chief executive of investment advisory at Ambit Capital in Mumbai. Were back to fundamentals and the earnings season in the US and Europe is not that great. Im hoping China will be the one that changes things.
He hopes the once-in-decade leadership transition in China will bring with it some form of stimulus.
Chinese stocks led gains Nov. 1, after two manufacturing surveys, one government sanctioned and the other by a private company, both showed improvement for the month of October.
Chinas Shanghai Composite index rose over 1.7%, to 2,104.4, its biggest jump in three weeks. Hong Kongs Hang Seng index rose 0.8%, to 21,821.8. Stocks in Taiwan also gained.
The positive PMI data suggested a higher demand for material might be needed for economic growth, said Peng Yunliang, an analyst based in Shanghai.
Gains in Japan were tempered by losses at leading electronics manufacturers. Sony Corp. said it had pared quarterly losses to $193 million, while Sharp Corp. said its losses for the first half of the fiscal year jumped nearly 10-fold, to $4.9 billion. The reports come on the heels of Panasonics warning that it would post a $9.6 billion loss for the fiscal year through March, among the biggest in Japans manufacturing history and far more than expected. Panasonic stock plunged over 19%.
Investors were also underwhelmed by the Bank of Japans Tuesday stimulus announcement, a bond-buying program designed to boost growth and combat deflation, said Andrew Sullivan, an independent analyst formerly with Piper Jaffray in Hong Kong.
Japans Nikkei 225 index reversed early losses to gain 0.2%, to 8,946.9. South Koreas Kospi was down 0.7% at 1,898.4. Indias Sensex was up 0.4%, to 18,577.8. Indices in New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia all retreated.
European investors shook off reports of record unemployment in the 17-country Eurozone and Greeces worse-than-expected debt forecast as they returned to trading Nov. 1.1.
Germanys DAX was up less than 0.1%, to 7,264.71 and Frances CAC 40 was nearly flat at 3,427.73 in early trade. Londons FTSE 100 was up 0.2%, at 5,793.69.
US futures slid as investors attempt to sort through the wreckage of Hurricane Sandy and the New York Stock Exchange opens for its second day of trading after being closed for two days because of the storm. Many New Yorkers are still struggling to return to work due to transportation disruptions and power outages.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.3%, to 12,994 while the Standard Poors 500 futures fell 0.4% to 1401.20.
Investors will be keeping an eye out for signs of the true cost of the storm damage as well as a slew of U.S. economic data in the final days before the tight US presidential election.
