Asian stocks deep in the red, China free-fall intensifies risk-off

By FXStreet FXStreet (Mumbai) – Stocks on the Asian bourses extended sell-off for the second straight session led by Shanghai stocks amid deteriorating Chinese manufacturing sector activity with the official Chinese manufacturing PMI gauge contracting for the first time in seven months in August.

The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell from 50.0 in July to 49.7 in August, its lowest since August 2012.

While the Caixin China manufacturing PMI was revised up from 47.1 to 47.3 in August, however came in below the 47.8 reading booked in July.

Nikkei sinks on stronger yen

Japan’s indices also continued to fall tracking negative cues from the Wall Street overnight while stronger yen versus the US dollar also contributed to the downside, making the export sector less appealing to investors. The USD/JPY cross trades around 120.70 during mid-Asia, -0.41% on the day. The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 is tanking over 2.30% at 18440.

The Shanghai Composite index drops -2.13% to 3,138 points. The Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index loses -0.54% at 21,549. Among other Asian indices, the benchmark Australian S&P/ASX 200 index is down -1.27% at 5,141 with gold miners and banks weighing down on the Australia’s markets. …read more

Source:: FX Street