By Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Stocks fell across Asia last
Wednesday after HSBC released a set of downbeat Chinese
manufacturing figures, making China data due out in the coming week
all the more crucial.
The recent HSBC data -- a preliminary edition of its
manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index -- showed a surprise
contraction for the sector, with the index's headline number
falling from the previous month's 51.0 down to 48.0, the lowest
level since early 2009.
The final version of the HSBC China PMI is due out Thursday,
along with a separate government-sponsored PMI that tends to focus
more on larger manufacturers.
Markets will be watching the results of each closely for
confirmation of a slowdown in the world's second-largest
economy.
China will not be the only show on the data stage this week,
with key Japanese industrial production statistics for October
expected on Wednesday.
Japan's September output disappointed analysts, marking a 4%
month-on-month drop after rising 0.8% the previous month.
The October result may offer little in the way of improvement,
as catastrophic flooding in Thailand has hit not just Japanese
firms with plants there, but also those which depend on Thai-made
parts.
Later Wednesday, India is due to release its fiscal
second-quarter gross domestic product result.
While economists don't expect the Indian economy to show
contraction, markets will watch to see whether a recent downtrend
continues from the April-June quarter's 7.7% increase, which was
the weakest growth in six quarters.
On Thursday, Australia is scheduled to announce retail sales for
October, and here too there are ominous signs.
Although, Australian retailers marked a third straight rise in
sales during September, major department-store operator David Jones
Ltd. said this past week that its August-October sales fell by just
over 11%.
And more broadly, retail sales growth in Australia has been
slowing, as July's 0.8% seasonally adjusted rise gave way to
August's 0.6% gain, followed by September's 0.4% increase.