Pedestrians look at electronic stock boards at the Australian Securities Exchange headquarters in Sydney (file). The market fell 56.8 points to 5,263 points yesterday.

AFP/Tokyo

Markets across Asia fell yesterday after data showed Chinese manufacturing activity shrank in January for the first time in six months.

Regional markets were also given a soft lead from Wall Street, which ended mixed as a below-par corporate earnings season continued.

Tokyo fell 0.79%, or 125.07 points, to close at 15,695.89, giving up earlier gains as the downbeat sentiment sent traders into the yen and away from the dollar.

Sydney fell 1.07%, or 56.8 points, to 5,263.0. Seoul lost 1.16%, or 22.83 points, to close at 1,947.59 on news that South Korean economic growth slowed in the October-December quarter.

Shanghai slipped 0.47%, or 9.57 points, to 2,042.18 and Hong Kong fell 1.51%, or 348.35 points, to 22,733.90.

In other markets, Kuala Lumpur lost 0.32%, or 5.79 points, to close at 1,808.31; palm oil giant Sime Darby shed 0.1% to 9.13 ringgit, while utility Tenaga Nasional fell 0.2% to 11.50. Petronas Gas gained 0.3% to 23.16 ringgit.

Singapore closed down 1.07%, or 33.50 points, to 3,100.24; real estate developer Capitaland lost 1.03% to Sg$2.87 while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp eased 0.83% to Sg$9.57.

Jakarta climbed 0.41%, or 18.55 points, to 4,496.04; Bank Negara Indonesia gained 1.06% to 4,275 rupiah, while miner Aneka Tambang lost 2.34% to 1,045 rupiah.

Bangkok added 1.38% or 17.85 points to 1,308.34; coal producer Banpu gained 4.63% to 28.25 baht, while telecoms company True Corp dropped 4.43% to 7.55 baht.

Taipei fell 0.35%, or 30.2 points, to 8,595.1; smartphone maker HTC fell 2.76% to Tw$141.0 while Hon Hai was 0.36% down at Tw$83.9.

Wellington was down 0.79%, or 39.26 points, at 4,911.07; Fletcher Building eased 0.33% to NZ$9.13 while Telecom was 0.71% higher at NZ$9.92.

Manila closed 0.49% higher, adding 30.19 points to 6,170.05; BDO Unibank rose 3.83% to 80pesos, Alliance Global was 2.86% higher at 27pesos and Metropolitan Bank advanced 0.63% to 79.80 pesos.

Banking giant HSBC said yesterday that preliminary results showed manufacturing activity in China contracted sharply in January, adding to recent concern about the world’s number two economy.

The bank’s early reading on its purchasing managers’ index for this month came in at 49.6, well down from 50.5 in December, its lowest since July. A reading above 50 indicates growth, while anything below signals contraction.

“The PMI figure certainly had an impact on the market, showing there still hasn’t been any improvement in the domestic economy,” Zheshang Securities analyst Zhang Yanbing told AFP.

Most of the bank’s sub-indices were also lower, including key new export orders, the survey found.

HSBC economist Qu Hongbin said in a statement the shrinkage was mostly because of cooling domestic demand and added: “As inflation is not a concern, the policy focus should tilt toward supporting growth” to avoid another economic slowdown as seen in the last quarter of 2013.

Official figures at the start of the week showed the Chinese economy grew 7.7% last year—the same as 2012, which was the slowest since 1999. It also showed that expansion in the October-December quarter came in at 7.7%, weaker than the 7.8% in the previous three months.

Shares in Shanghai got some support from news that China’s central bank had pumped almost $20bn into the financial system yesterday to ease a liquidity squeeze before the Chinese New Year holiday.

It made a similar move Tuesday, which came a day after the bank said it had provided short-term liquidity to some big commercial lenders to head off a possible credit crunch.

Weak earnings in forex trade the dollar bought 104.37 yen in Tokyo, down from 104.54 yen in New York on Wednesday, while the euro fetched 141.90 yen against 141.57 yen.

The euro was at $1.3600, from $1.3544. US shares ended mixed as the earnings season failed to inspire. Before releasing their fourth-quarter reports, many companies warned of poor earnings, according to a report by S&P Capital IQ.

Of the 100 firms to give an outlook, 80 were negative, 10 were positive and 10 were in line, said the report. The ratio of negative-to-higher forecasts is higher than the 15-year average, S&P Capital IQ said.

Computer giant IBM sank 3.3% after posting disappointing sales in its hardware division during the fourth quarter.

The Dow fell 0.25%, but the S&P 500 edged up 0.06% and the Nasdaq added 0.41%.

Oil prices slipped as investors locked in profits after prices hit their highest levels this year on forecasts of stronger crude demand.

New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for March delivery, was down 10 cents at $96.63 a barrel after rising $1.76 in US trade. Brent crude for March dipped 42 cents to $107.85 following a $1.54 jump late Wednesday.

Gold fetched $1,245.30 compared with $1,239.88 late Wednesday.