Asian stocks rise on upbeat Chinese data

Asian shares mostly rose today (August 5th) after the release of new data showing China’s service sector reached an 11-month high.

The upbeat figures are in contrast with a survey published on Monday showing that manufacturing activity in China contracted the most in two years.

The final July reading for Caixin China purchasing managers' index (PMI), a manufacturing index based on a survey of factory purchasing managers, came in at 47.8, lower than the preliminary reading of 48.2.

While investors in Asia reacted positively to the service sector data, Chinese shares closed lower on worries that authorities could hold off further emergency measures. China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.7 per cent to 3,694.57.

Investors are also deterred by a lack of predictable regulatory rules, Deng Wenyuan, an analyst at Soochow Securities, told MarketWatch.

The tepid performance of the mainland market follows Chinese authorities’ moves to clamp down on short selling on Monday. Investors who borrow shares must now wait one day to pay back loans.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.5 per cent to 20,614.06 and South Korea's Kospi added 0.1 per cent to 2,029.76. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.4 per cent to 24,514.16 while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged down 0.4 per cent to 5,674.00.

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