A survey of wealthy Chinese people released this month by consulting firm Oliver Wyman found that in May, 22% of respondents were negative about the economy. This is slightly higher than the 21% seen in October 2022, just before the Chinese government announced plans to ease its strict zero-corona policy.
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South Korean indexes fell on Monday, widening losses in the region as investors assessed private data on Chinese factory activity in January, while gold widened its losses from Friday.
According to an official note, the Kospi index fell by more than 5% to 4,949.67, while Kospi 200 futures fell by up to 5%, and authorities suspended trading. Leading companies in the index, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, fell 8.69% and 6.29%, respectively.
The small-cap Kosdaq fell 4.44% to close at 1,098.36.
China’s factory activity accelerated in January as manufacturers ramped up production and loaded cargo ahead of the extended Lunar New Year holiday, according to a private survey released Monday.
S&P Global’s Rating Dog China Comprehensive Manufacturing PMI was 50.3 in January, up from 50.1 the previous month and in line with analysts’ expectations of 50.3 in a Reuters survey. A value above the indicator 50 indicates expansion, and a value below it suggests contraction.
This was the highest level since October, when the privately surveyed PMI stood at 50.6.
Japanese Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.25% to 52,655.18, and TOPIX fell 0.85% to 3,536.13.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 2.32%, and the mainland’s CSI300 index fell 2.13% to 4,605.98.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.02% to 8,778.6.
All eyes are on gold and silver following Friday’s sharp selloff. Spot gold plunged nearly 10% on Friday when prices fell below $5,000 an ounce, dropping about 6% to $4,538 an ounce.
Spot silver prices fell by as much as 12% to $74.36 per ounce.
Futures tied to major U.S. benchmarks fell in early Asian time as Wall Street opened a new month of trading, with traders focused on Bitcoin following weekend declines.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 143 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures fell 0.6%, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell nearly 1%.
Bitcoin fell below $80,000 for the first time since April, showing investors are hedging more risk following the sharp decline in gold and silver.
Bitcoin last traded around $76,700.
U.S. stocks fell last Friday as tech stocks remained in a funk even as investors largely approved of President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve.
Still, despite Friday’s losses and volatile trading this month, the S&P 500 achieved January gains. The comprehensive index fell by 0.43% to end at 6,939.03, the third consecutive day of decline.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.36%, settling at $48,892.47. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index underperformed, dropping 0.94% to close at 23,461.82. All three indexes were down more than 1% at their lows in trading.
—CNBC’s Anniek Bao, Fred Imbert, Alex Harring, Lisa Kailai Han and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
