China stocks tumble on weak factory activity

Korea’s benchmark Kospi index is up 0.32 percent at 1,970 points.

Chinese markets opened higher, with the Shanghai Composite up 0.88 percent to 3,184 points while Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index gained 0.77 percent.

Data on Wednesday showed the Caixin flash China general manufacturing PMI plunged to a 78-month low of 47.0 in September from 47.3 in August. The reading was below the 47.5 level expected, and well short of the 50 level that separates industry expansion from contraction.

Among other indexes, the benchmark CSI300 Index tanked 2.2 percent. Medical and animal care product supplier Ebos Group climbed 2 percent, outdoor goods retailer Kathmandu Holdings advanced 2.7 percent and milk marketing firm A2 Milk added 1.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index retreated 2.3 percent even after President Xi Jinping told a US audience that the country’s stock market had reached a self-recovery phase.

Across the pond, the pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) finished the day significantly lower, down 3.1 percent as autos tanked and weaker oil prices weighing on investor sentiment. MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index fell 2.1 percent to 399.04 as of 10:38 a.m.in Hong Kong, as commodity producers led declines after raw-material prices tumbled. New Hope Corp shares soared 5.6 percent despite the company reporting a loss for the full year ended 31 July.

Analysts are calling for the Central Bank of the Republic of China (CBC) to finally give in to a rate cut at its quarterly policy meeting on Thursday, after having kept its policy interest rate at 1.875 percent since 2011, amid stuttering external demand. Market bellwether Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors rose over 3 percent each, and auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis jumped 5.1 percent as the South Korean won fell against the dollar.

WTI for November delivery fell 0.4 percent to $46.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have decreased 13 percent this year. The euro rose to $1.1205 from $1.1187.