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Hong Kong - Asian shares were mixed on Thursday despite new data showing that China's manufacturing activity hit a seven-month high in October, adding to evidence the world's second-largest economy is recovering.
British bank HSBC's preliminary purchasing managers' index (PMI) for this month was 50.9, a significant improvement from September's 50.2 and the highest since 51.6 in March.
Tokyo reversed earlier losses to finish up 0.42%, or 60.36 points, at 14 486.41, while Sydney gained 0.31%, or 16.8 points, to 5 372.9. Seoul climbed 0.54%, or 10.94 points, to 2 046.69.
However, Shanghai closed down 0.86%, or 18.79 points, at 2 164.32 and Hong Kong slid 0.71%, or 164.13 points, to 22 835.82.
"Investors may need more positive signals to confirm strength in economic growth," Northeast Securities analyst Wang Guobing told Dow Jones Newswires.
The PMI tracks manufacturing activity in China's factories and is a closely watched gauge of the health of the economy. A reading above 50 indicates growth, while anything below signals contraction.
The upbeat data from China followed "broad-based modest improvements" in the Chinese economy after last year's slowdown, said Qu Hongbin, a HSBC economist in Hong Kong, in a statement accompanying the figures.
"This momentum is likely to continue in the coming months, creating favourable conditions for speeding up structural reforms," he said.
In the US, stocks ended lower Wednesday in a decline that analysts attributed to a mix of profit-taking and a couple of prominent earnings disappointments.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.35%, the broad-based S&P 500 slid 0.47% and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.57%.
The losses came on the heels of a 10-day winning streak that saw the S&P 500 gain almost six percent.
"We had some disappointing earnings here in the US but I think it's more a function of how much we've been up all across the board, a natural breather after a very strong rally," said Alec Young, a global equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ.
Other analysts said weak earnings reports from Dow components Caterpillar and Broadcom exacerbated anxiety in the wake of the recent partial US government shutdown.
Caterpillar fell 6.1% after its latest quarterly earnings declined 44% and the company slashed its full-year forecast for the third straight quarter, while semiconductor firm Broadcom fell 2.9% after announcing it was cutting 1 150 jobs.
The dollar was changing hands at ¥97.47 in Thursday Tokyo afternoon trade, up from ¥97.32 in New York Wednesday afternoon.
In oil afternoon trade, New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in December, was up 63 cents at $97.49. Brent North Sea crude for December gained 15 cents to $107.95.
Gold rose to $1 335.98 at 10:25 compared with $1 329.88 on Wednesday.
In other markets:
-- Manila lost 0.77%, or 51.34 points, to 6 583.77.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co bucked the trend to rise 0.14% to 2 860 pesos while Ayala Corp fell 0.89% to 611 pesos.
-- Taipei rose 0.24%, or 20.1 points, to 8 413.72.
Hon Hai rose 0.66% to Tw$75.8 while TSMC was 0.9% lower at Tw$110.0.
-- Wellington fell 0.85%, or 41.45 points, to 4 834.94.
Fletcher Building dropped 1.86 percent to NZ$9.48, Telecom Corp slid 0.85 percent to NZ$2.335 and Air New Zealand was steady on NZ$1.64.
