Asian shares suffered another disappointing day on Monday, continuing from Wall Street’s uninspiring performance on Friday.
It was announced that the US economy grew faster than previously estimated in the second quarter of the year, as official figures were revised upwards from 3.7 percent to 3.9 percent. However, performance was lacklustre as investors remained cautious ahead of US jobs data due to be released later this week.
Asian shares had a mixed day on Monday, with Tokyo’s Nikkei index down 0.7%. Upcoming announcements, including industrial production data from Japan on Wednesday, and Thursday’s China Caixin Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) are likely to influence the markets throughout the week.
Mainland Chinese shares followed the trend, opening lower after the latest in a string of disappointing economic data showed that industrial profits continued to decline in August. Industrial profits fell 8.8% from a year ago, a big increase on the 2.9% fall disclosed in July. The Shanghai Composite was down 0.2% to 3,085.86 in early trade.