Asian stock markets swung between gains and losses before closing on a mixed note Wednesday, as increasing political tension in Japan and signs of faltering global growth prompted investors to lock in some profits.
Regional economic data showing contraction in Australia's manufacturing sector and China's PMI readings that were slightly below economists' forecasts added to a growing pile of evidence that the global economic recovery is losing momentum.
Investors also braced for key U.S. economic indicators, including the ISM manufacturing data due later in the day and employment figures for May to be released Friday for further clues on the strength of the world's largest economy.
The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts while the euro stabilized, boosted by hopes for a fresh bailout package for debt-laden Greece.
Tokyo stocks posted modest gains, with the benchmark Nikkei rising 0.3 percent and the broader Topix index closing up 0.1 percent, aided by the gains on Wall Street for the fourth trading session overnight. Intensifying political woes surrounding a looming no-confidence motion against the Cabinet of unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan limited the upside.
Shares with a relatively high exposure to the Chinese market rose after purchasing manager index data from China didn't suggest a sharp slowdown in the economy. Komatsu gained 1.3 percent, Fanuc added 1.4 percent and Hitachi Construction Machinery edged up 0.6 percent.
Renesas Electronics climbed 2.8 percent on news that its earthquake-crippled chip factory resumed partial operations earlier in the day, as planned. Heavyweight Fast Retailing, the operator of apparel chain Uniqlo, jumped 2.6 percent on the company's bullish outlook for summer sales. Tokyo Electric Power, which operates the Fukushima complex, slumped 5.7 percent on a heavy volume after Japanese ratings agency Rating and Investment Information downgraded the company's issuer rating to single A minus from single A.
China's Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.1 percent, with heavily weighted banking shares leading the declines, after a report showed the nation's manufacturing sector growth eased further in May.
China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said that its purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing sector fell to 52 in May from 52.9 in April versus expectations for a steeper drop to 51.6.
Additionally, the results of Markit Economics' survey showed that the HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to a ten-month low of 51.6 in May from 51.8 in April. Both surveys pointed to a slowdown in input price inflation, subsiding fears of aggressive monetary policy tightening.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 0.2 percent on uncertainty over China's banking regulators plan to shift up to $463 billion in debt held by local governments.
The Australian market struggled for direction before finishing flat, with both the S&P/ASX 200 and the broader All Ordinaries index easing marginally, after tepid U.S. and domestic data cast fresh doubts over the outlook for global growth.
The Australian economy suffered its steepest contraction in 20 years in the March quarter of 2011 as Queensland floods adversely affected coal mining and exports, official figures showed.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the seasonally adjusted gross domestic product shrunk 1.2 percent sequentially during the three months ended March after a revised 0.8 percent expansion in the fourth quarter. Economists had forecast a 1.1 percent decline in GDP.
Material stocks closed higher, with BHP Billiton adding 0.4 percent and Rio Tinto rising marginally. Fortescue Metals rose 2.6 percent after the company said that Andrew Forrest will step down as the chief executive to take over as chairman. In the banking sector, ANZ shed 0.6 percent, Commonwealth lost half a percent, NAB fell 1.6 percent and Westpac declined 0.8 percent.
South Korea's Kospi average ended unchanged with a negative bias, as domestic data showing exports expanded at a slower pace in May prompted some profit taking in large-cap stocks such as Hyundai Motor. Shares of the nation's largest auto maker fell 3.6 percent, Kia Motor tumbled 3.7 percent and computer-memory chip maker Hynix Semiconductor slumped 5.7 percent. Hynix CFO Kim Min-chul said in an interview yesterday that the chip maker's second operating profit will fall short of forecasts because the market overestimated demand for memory chips.
South Korean exports jumped 23.5 percent year-over-year year to $48.01 billion in May - shy of forecasts calling for an increase of 27.7 percent after climbing 25.1 percent in the previous month, according to data released by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX-50 recouped early losses to end 0.1 percent higher, with PGG Wrightson leading the gainers after announcing the conditional sale of its 50 percent stake in New Zealand Merino Company to farmer-based Merino Grower Investments for $7.625 million. The services company controlled by China's Agria closed up nearly 4 percent.
Tower, the general insurer controlled by Guinness Peat Group, advanced 1.7 percent after the government proposed allowing private companies to compete with the Accident Compensation Corp. for workplace accident cover.
Goodman Fielder jumped 3.7 percent after the Australian food ingredients manufacturer appointed Chris Delaney, from U.S. food giant Campbell Soup Company, as its new chief executive officer. Heavyweight Telecom edged up 0.6 percent, Mainfreight added half a percent and Fisher & Paykel Appliances climbed 3.2 percent, while Fletcher Building ended flat and Contact Energy dropped 1.7 percent.
Elsewhere, India's Sensex was last trading up half a percent, climbing for a second day, after signs of slowing manufacturing growth eased worries about aggressive interest rate hikes. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite was little changed, Singapore's Straits Times rose 0.4 percent and the Taiwan Weighed added 0.8 percent, while Malaysia's KLSE slipped 0.2 percent.
The major U.S. averages rose by 1-1.4 percent overnight, as optimism about further financial assistance for Greece helped shrug off another batch of disappointing U.S. economic data on consumer confidence, manufacturing and home prices.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.