BANGKOK (AP) — Shares surged Monday in Europe and Asia after the release over the weekend of encouraging manufacturing data in China that suggest government stimulus may be gaining traction.
Germany’s DAX gained 1.0 percent to 11,634.87 while the CAC40 in France jumped 0.9 percent to 5,396.96. Britain’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.8 percent to 7,340.09. Wall Street looked set to extend gains from last week, with the future contract for the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.7 percent to 26,103.00. That for the S&P 500 also gained 0.7 percent, to 2,856.90.
China’s statistics bureau and an industry group said Sunday their monthly purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.5 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show activity increasing. That was up 1.3 points from February.
Sub-indexes for exports, employment and new orders all improved, and an index showing companies’ expectations for future new business rose 0.6 points to 56.8.
“There is a lot of optimism and feelings of joy among investors today,” Naeem Aslam of Thinkmarkets.com said in a commentary, “thanks to the Chinese economic data which has painted a very optimistic picture.”
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index added 1.4 percent to 21,509.03, easing off earlier highs after newly released economic data showed conditions for manufacturers deteriorating. The Shanghai Composite index jumped 2.6 percent to 3,170.36 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.7 percent to 29,554.74.
The Bank of Japan reported Monday that a survey of major manufacturers showed business sentiment worsening in March compared with three months earlier. The central bank’s “tankan” showed confidence of major companies such as automakers sank to 12 from 19 in December’s survey.
It was an inauspicious start for the day when the name of the era of the soon-to-be-emperor Naruhito, “Reiwa,” was announced. Naruhito, the crown prince, will ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne after his father, Emperor Akihito, abdicates as of April 30. The name, whose poetic meaning is not entirely clear from the characters used, was drawn from the 7th century poetry collection Manyoshu.
Retailers will be hoping to cash in on a boom in commemorative items associated with the rare transition to a new era.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.3 percent to 2,168.28 and the S&P ASX 200 rose 0.6 percent in Australia to 6,217.00. India’s Sensex gained 0.8 percent to 38,981.69 and shares also rose in Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand. Indonesia’s benchmark fell.
Adding to economic gloom in Japan, the Nikkei Japan purchasing manager’s index showed output in manufacturing falling at its fastest rate in nearly three years in March due to weak demand both at home and abroard.
“The economic backdrop for the manufacturing sector in Japan remains fiercely challenging,” Joe Hayes, an economist at HIS Markit, which compiles the survey, said in a commentary. “Asian goods producers face headwinds from slowing growth in Europe and China, while global trade risks are yet to be mitigated by a breakthrough in US-Sino relations.”
Stocks finished broadly higher Friday on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 index up 0.7 percent, to 2,834.40, a gain of 13.1 percent so far this year, a drastic turnaround for stocks after a jarring 14 percent sell-off in the last three months of 2018...
