Asian Stocks Rise On US Manufacturing Data

Asian stock markets mostly advanced Tuesday as a better-than-expected reading on the U.S. manufacturing data lifted sentiment.

Markets opened on a positive note as the sentiment was buoyed after a report showed that manufacturing activity in the U.S. expanded unexpectedly in September after three months of contraction as new orders and employment picked up. The data came on the same day after an official report showed that Chinese manufacturing activity showed a modest rebound in September.

ISM's manufacturing purchasing managers Index (PMI) rose to 51.5 in September from 49.6 in August and bucked economists' expectation for a fourth straight monthly contraction. The employment index gained to 54.7 in September from an almost three-year low of 51.6 in August, suggesting that the manufacturing activity improvement is already translating into faster jobs growth in the world’s largest economy.

"With ISM data from Japan, China, Europe, and now the U.S. stronger, it appears that the general picture is for a turnaround in global markets," CLSA equity strategist Nicholas Smith, told the Wall Street Journal.

Japanese shares pared earlier gains and ended with losses, as losses from the consumer stocks outweighed gains in exporter and steel companies. Benchmark Nikkei fell 0.12 percent or 10.46 points to 8786.05.

Canon Inc. gained 2.36 percent and Kobe Steel Ltd. surged 4.84 percent while Fast Retailing Co Ltd. fell 1.46 percent and Parco Co Ltd. plunged 3.21 percent.

South Korean KOSPI composite ended flat and Singapore’s Straits Times Index advanced 0.50 percent. Markets in China, Hong Kong and India are closed for public holidays.

South Korea shares advanced after data showed that consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.0 percent in September on annual basis. Core CPI rose 1.4 percept from year earlier. The data is in line with estimates and at the bottom end of the Bank of Korea’s (BoK) target range of 2 to 4 percent range for this year, leaving room again for the BoK to ease in October.

In Seoul, Kia Motors Corp. surged 3.46 percent and Hyundai Motor Co. plunged 2.18 percent while Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. advanced 1.71 percent following a U.S. court decision to lift the preliminary injunction slapped on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in June 2012.