Asian shares rebound on strong China data, oil on slippery slope

Reuters | Sydney

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Asian shares bounced off one-month lows on Monday on solid data from China showing factory activity expanded at its fastest pace in a decade while oil prices skidded as many Western countries slid back into coronavirus-driven lockdowns.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS climbed 0.5percent  to 573.04, as China's Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index offered hope the region's success in containing the coronavirus could spare it the economic pain being inflicted on Europe and the United States.

All major indexes except New Zealand were up on Monday.

Australian shares .AXJO rose 0.4pc.

Chinese shares were higher with the blue-chip CSI300.CSI300 rising 0.8pc with the country's vast industrial sector steadily returning to levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic paralyzed huge swathes of the economy.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 jumped 1.5pc.

E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 added 0.1pc, with investor focus turning to the U.S. Presidential elections on Tuesday.

The global outlook is dimming as many Western countries battle still rising COVID-19 infections and go back into virus lockdowns.