Muted trading on Asian bourses ahead of US employment data

Tokyo: Asian shares were mixed in cautious trading Monday ahead of the Labour Day holiday in the US, when stock exchanges will be closed.Investors were also looking ahead to the US employment report set for release Friday for an indication of the strength of the American economy. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.4 per cent in morning trading to 38,797.61, after the Finance Ministry reported capital spending by Japanese companies in the April-June quarter increased 7.4 per cent from the previous year. After a period of stagnation, Japan’s economy is showing signs of a recovery. Next week, Japan will release revised gross domestic product, or GDP, data, a measure of the value of a nation’s goods and services. The preliminary data released earlier showed the first growth in two quarters.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.3 per cent to 8,067.00, while South Korea’s Kospi gained nearly 0.1 per cent to 2,676.28. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.3 per cent to 17,752.09. The Shanghai Composite dipped 0.5 per cent to 2,828.84. A bit of pessimism rolled in over China’s growth prospects over the weekend, as its National Bureau of Statistics reported that August manufacturing PMI, a barometer of industrial output, fell from 49.4 to 49.1. That was weaker than market forecasts.