Looking Ahead in Asia

Central bank decisions and a barrage of economic reports in China and Australia will be in focus for Asian markets this week.  Beijing kicked off the data-heavy week on Sunday with its official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for May. The figure rose to a five-month high of 50.8, beating estimates for 50.6 and higher than April’s 50.4 reading.

Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan markets are shut Monday for the Dragon Boat Festival. Tuesday will be a hectic as traders react to Sunday’s official PMI, HSBC’s final China manufacturing PMI for May and the official services PMI.

HSBC’s preliminary reading for May stood at five-month high of 49.7; analysts from National Australia Bank expect the final figure to be revised to 49.6, which would still mark an improvement from April’s 48.1 reading.  The data follow Premier Li Keqiang’s comments last week that the government will fine tune economic policies appropriately, which analysts say add to confidence that growth will be supported around 7.5 percent this year.

CNBC

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