Asian markets riding high on US data
Asian markets are bouncing back in the wake of better than expected US manufacturing data. US factory activity accelerated at its fastest pace for nearly four years in February, according to Markit’s preliminary US manufacturing purchasing managers’ index.
The US Labour Department also showed there were fewer applications for unemployment benefit last week.
The results came as welcome news after from the previous day's data, which showed a fall in China's purchasing managers' index (PMI) to a seven-month low of 48.3.
However, emerging market shares remained tepid due to concerns over a slowdown in Chinese growth.
Japan's Nikkei is up by 2.8 per cent while the Topix has risen by over two per cent so far. South Korea's Kospi is enjoying a boost of over one per cent while the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index is up marginally by 0.5 per cent.