The performance of Asian stock markets varied in the first trading sessions of 2024.

Most Asian markets witnessed a decline on Tuesday following the release of data showing further signs of slowdown in the Chinese manufacturing and real estate sectors.

US futures rose by more than one dollar per barrel as oil prices increased, while the Japanese markets remained closed due to the holiday.

According to the Associated Press, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased by 1.5% to 16,788.55 points, while the Shanghai Composite index decreased by 0.4% to 2,962.28 points.

Investors are turning towards selling real estate development companies such as China Evergrande, which is burdened with debts and saw its stock fall by 6%, as well as Longfor Group Holding, which incurred a loss of 6.9%. Additionally, Sino Ocean Holding’s stock dropped by 4.6%.

The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey for the month of December in China dropped to 49 for the third consecutive month, indicating weak demand and highlighting the challenging economic conditions in the world’s second-largest economy.

This contradicts the private sector survey conducted by the Kaitchen Foundation, which recorded a slight improvement in the industrial purchasing managers’ index at 50.8, driven by increased production and new orders. Nevertheless, it also revealed that business confidence in 2024 remains weak.

The latest data also reveals that the value of new home sales for the top 100 real estate developers in China decreased by approximately 35% in December, despite regulators’ efforts to lift restrictions on such transactions.

The KOSPI index in South Korea rose by 0.6% to 2669.81, and the S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia gained 0.5% to reach 7627.80.

Similarly, the SET index in Bangkok rose by 1.1%, while the Sensex index in Mumbai lost by 0.7%.