Asian shares advance, Hong Kong sags on weak factory data

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Monday after a strong close on Wall Street last week, though the latest manufacturing surveys showed weakening factory activity in the region’s biggest economies.

Tokyo, Shanghai and Sydney advanced while Hong Kong and Seoul slipped. U.S. futures declined and oil prices lost more than $1 a barrel.

On Friday, Wall Street closed out its best month since November 2020. The S&P 500 index, a benchmark for many stock funds, rose 1.4% and finished 9.1% higher for July.

A rebound in technology stocks, big retailers and other companies that rely on direct consumer spending helped drive broad gains in July, though the index is still down 13.3% for the year.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.5% to 27,948.50 while the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.2% higher, to 3,258.46. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 6,972.80. The Kospi in Seoul shed 0.1% to 2,448.47 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gave up 0.3% to 20,091.11.

Chinese manufacturing’s recovery from anti-virus shutdowns faltered in July as activity sank, a survey showed Sunday, adding to pressure on the struggling economy in a politically sensitive year when President Xi Jinping is expected to try to extend his time in power.

Factory activity was depressed by weak global demand and anti-virus controls that are weighing on domestic consumer spending, according to the national statistics agency and an official industry group, the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing.

A similar survey of purchasing managers, the au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing PMI, slipped to 52.1 in July from 52.7 in June, the slowest growth in the sector in 10 months, as costs of energy and labor rose. The survey measures various components on a scale up to 100, with readings above 50...