Asia markets rise as China’s factory activity contracts for fourth straight month

Asia-Pacific markets rose on Monday as China’s factory activity for July remained in contraction territory for the fourth straight month.

The official manufacturing purchasing managers index came in at 49.3, higher than June’s figure of 49.0, according to the national bureau of statistics.

The PMI for non-manufacturing activity came in at 51.5, a slower rate of expansion compared to the 53.2 in June.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index surged over 1.71%, while the Hang Seng Tech index saw a larger climb of 4.84%. At current levels, this would be the first time that the HSI breached the 20,000 mark in over a month.

Mainland Chinese markets were all higher as well, with the Shanghai Composite up 1.27% and the Shenzhen Component 1.16% higher.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 popped 1.83%, while the Topix saw a larger gain of 1.52%. The country’s industrial output for June came in lower than expected, registering a 2% growth month on month compared to the 2.4% expected by economists.

South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.88%, and the Kosdaq climbed 1.86%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 also rose 0.1%, as investors prepare for the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rate decision on Tuesday, with economists polled by Reuters expecting a 25 basis points hike in its benchmark policy rate to 4.35%.