Asia shares rise despite contraction in China’s manufacturing sector
Manufacturing activity in China declined for the fourth month in a row in November.
The official purchasing managers' index fell to 49.6 for the month – down from 49.8 in October and the fourth consecutive month of declines. It fell behind the consensus expectation of 49.8 among analysts polled by Reuters.
The figure was also a three-year low for the world's second largest economy, and below the 50 mark which denotes a contraction. However, the contraction was slower than in October.
Meanwhile, the services sector experienced some growth, with the official non-manufacturing PMI at 53.6 in November, up from 53.1 October.
The country is currently implementing a large number of stimulus measures to get its economy back on track following a difficult summer, including cutting its interest rates six times since November last year.
One of its ambitions is to become a consumption-driven economy, rather than an export-driven economy.
Read more: China's economic woes continue as factory activity contracts at fastest pace in three years
Despite the results, markets across Asia made gains on Tuesday, with the Shanghai Composite index currently up 0.32 per cent at 3,456 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 1.75 per cent.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index closed 1.3 per cent higher at 20,012 – the first time it has gone over 20,000 in more than three months.