Asia braces for the worst from China factory survey

(Agencies) Updated: 2014-09-23 10:55

A man looks at an electronic board displaying Japan's Nikkei average (top C) and the stock price indexes of various countries outside a brokerage in Tokyo Sep 4, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

Asian shares slipped on Tuesday as a periodic bout of angst over China combined with the US dollar's recent meteoric run to pile pressure on commodity prices.

Brent oil was near lows last seen in mid-2012, while gold came off a nine-month trough and copper a three-month low on fears a survey out on Tuesday could show stalling factory growth in China.

The HSBC flash reading on manufacturing (PMI) for September is expected to dip to the flat level of 50.0 from August's microscopically expansionary 50.2, though the market is braced for an even weaker number.

Analysts at ANZ suspect the index could drop to 49.8.

"The pace of momentum is slowing in China, with August industrial production growth at its lowest level since the global financial crisis, with the weak property market weighing on fixed asset investment," they said in a note.

"The one bright spot is likely to be the improving external demand environment, which should help lift the new orders and new export orders sub-indexes."

Among regional markets, Australia's main index eased 0.2 percent while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.16 percent.

A holiday in Japan made for thin conditions and could lead to whippy moves in prices.

On Wall Street the Dow fell 0.62 percent, while the S&P 500 lost 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq 1.14 percent.

The drop in the S&P was the biggest one-day decline since early August and was caused in part by a soft reading on US existing home sales which hit shares in building companies.