Asia markets rise as China’s manufacturing PMI data softens less than expected

Consumer spending bounced back in August after a tepid July, according to the China Beige Book’s survey of Chinese businesses released Thursday.

That’s based on a survey conducted Aug. 17 to 25 of 1,300 businesses, the majority of which were not state owned.

However, China’s massive property sector continued to worsen in August, the survey found.

— Evelyn Cheng

China’s factory activity shrank for the fifth straight month, with the country’s official manufacturing purchasing managers index coming in at 49.7 in August.

This was a smaller contraction compared to the 49.4 expected by economists polled by Reuters, and the 49.3 in July.

Non-manufacturing PMI weakened for the fifth straight month to 51.0, down from 51.5 in July, while composite PMI stood at 51.3, marking its first rise in four months.

— Lim Hui Jie

South Korea’s industrial production contracted for a tenth straight month, falling 8% in July from a year ago.

This was a steeper fall than the 5.2% drop expected by economists polled by Reuters, and extends the 5.9% loss seen in June.

Separately, July retail sales fell 3.2% from the prior month, a reversal from the 0.9% rise in June.

— Lim Hui Jie

Japan’s retail sales rose more than expected in July, climbing 6.8% year on year.

This was sharply higher than the 5.4% rise expected by economists polled by Reuters, and also higher than a revised figure of a 5.6% gain in June.

This is the highest rate of increase since May 2021’s 8.2% jump, barring a 7.2% rise in March.

— Lim Hui Jie

When it comes to picking stocks, Hannah Gooch-Peters of asset management firm Sanlam Investments UK avoids chasing trends.

She said she believes investors need to look beyond the “Magnificent Seven,” referring to Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — tech stocks that have made massive gains this year.

The global equity investment analyst told CNBC Pro Talks that the firm looks for high-quality companies all over the world, and shared her “very specific” definition of quality.

Gooch-Peters names her top five stock picks.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about them here.

— Weizhen Tan

Analysts at UBS have detailed how to play a volatile Chinese market in the short term.

“Under our expectation for further policy support that will be both effective and rolled out promptly, Chinese equities remain most preferred within our Asia strategy,” the bank’s analysts said in a note to investors.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read about some of its stock picks here.

— Lucy Handley

Economic growth expanded at a 2.1% annual clip in the second-quarter, the government said Wednesday, which is a slight downward revision from the preliminary 2.4% estimate.

Other revisions also include personal consumption, which ticked up slightly to 1.7%.

— Brian Evans

When it comes to picking stocks, Hannah Gooch-Peters of asset management firm Sanlam Investments UK avoids chasing trends.

She said she believes investors need to look beyond the “Magnificent Seven,” referring to Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — tech stocks that have made massive gains this year.

The global equity investment analyst told CNBC Pro Talks that the firm looks for high-quality companies all over the world, and shared her “very specific” definition of quality.

Gooch-Peters names her top five stock picks.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about them here.

— Weizhen Tan

The latest, four-day boomlet in U.S. stocks has pared August’s decline in the S&P 500 to just 1.6% now — from a loss of -5.53% as recently as the intraday low on August 18 when the benchmark index touched its low for the month at 4335. 31.

The S&P 500 has climbed as much as 3.32% over the past four trading sessions, using Wednesday’s high water mark of 4,521.65.

Of the S&P’s 11 major sectors, only energy (+1.1%) and health care (+0.5%) are higher in August. As yields have backed up this month, utilities are the worst-performing group, slumping -6%.

— Scott…