The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) gained 0.5 percent to 145.42 as of 10:13 a.m. in Hong Kong. About five stocks rose for every three that fell. A HSBC Holdings Plc/Markit Ltd. preliminary index of factory activity for China was at 50.8 for June, up from 49.4 in May. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.
“We’ve had a protracted period of sub-50 PMIs in China and I expect we are going to move into the period of plus-50 in the second half of this year, and that will be viewed fairly positively,” Tim Schroeders, a portfolio manager who helps oversee $1 billion in equities at Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne, said by phone. “The platform is very solid for the acceleration of growth into the second half of this year against the backdrop of very accommodative policy globally.”
The Asia-Pacific gauge added 0.4 percent last week, to cap its longest run of weekly gains since August, as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said she expects U.S. interest rates will stay near zero for a “considerable time” after stimulatory bond buying ends. The measure rose 2.4 percent this year through last week.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.5 percent. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland shares traded in the city gained 0.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1 percent.
Japan’s Topix (TPX) index added 0.1 percent and South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.5 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.8 percent today, while New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index lost 0.4 percent. Taiwan’s Taiex index advanced 0.2 percent and Singapore’s Straits Times Index increased 0.1 percent.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.2 percent today. The measure rose 0.2 percent on June 20 as drugmakers rallied on merger activity and investors speculated economic growth will accelerate.
Source: Bloomberg
