China’s manufacturing activity in March expanded at its fastest pace in one year, signaling Beijing’s stimulus measures were helping prop up an economic recovery, while looming U.S. tariffs threaten to thwart growth.
The official purchasing managers’ index came in at 50.5 in March, according to the National Bureau of Statistics data released Monday, accelerating from the prior month and in line with Reuters poll estimates.
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— Anniek Bao
Japan’s factory output rose 2.5% in February, reversing a decline in the previous month, data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry data showed on Monday.
This was higher than the 2.3% rise estimated by Reuters, with output driven by production machinery and electronics parts.
Separately, data released Monday showed a 1.4% rise in Japan’s retail sales in February from a year earlier.
The reading was below less than the 2% rise forecast by Reuters and the 4.4% increase seen in the January.
— Amala Balakrishner
The semiconductor manufacturing company has been trading in negative territory for two straight sessions, following comments from CEO Hidetoshi Shibata.
He reportedly said that layoffs and a pay freeze were necessary responses to cope with the prolonged slump in the global semiconductor market.
— Amala Balakrishner
Japanese stocks slumped Monday as worries over U.S. President Donald Trump’s fresh round of tariffs fueled a wider sell-off in Asia markets.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 was down 4.14% as of 9.22 a.m. local time. The small-cap Kosdaq was down 3.7%
Losses in the Nikkei, which fell below 36,000 for then first time since March 11, were led by the energy, utilities and healthcare sectors, data from LSEG shows.
Among the worst performing stocks was Advantest Corp which plunged 5.51%, Tokyo Electron which lost 5.2% and Fujikura which fell 5.17%.
Meanwhile, the broad-based Topix index was down 3.29%.
— Amala Balakrishner
South Korea’s industrial production jumped 7% year on year in February, faster than the 2% expected by economists polled by Reuters, after falling 4.7% in the previous month.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the country’s factory output rose 1% in February from the month earlier, data released by Statistics Korea on Monday showed. This follows a 2.8% expansion in January and an increase of 0.8% expected by Reuters poll.
— Amala Balakrishner