Asia markets mostly rise on data-heavy day

Official data from China showed its manufacturing sector unexpectedly contracted in May.

The manufacturing purchasing managers index came in at 49.5, from 50.4 in April. The reading is below a Reuters poll forecast of 50.4.

The 50-point mark separates expansion from contraction.

The PMI reading arrives after data earlier in the week showed China’s industrial profits rose 4.3% year on year in the January to April period.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Official data showed South Korea’s industrial production rose in April, compared to a fall in the previous month.

The industrial production index rose 2.2% in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, after falling 3% in March.

The figure also beat a Reuters poll expectation of a 1.1% month-on-month rise.

South Korea’s retail sales index fell by 1.2% month-on-month in April, and 2.6% from the same period last year.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Investment bank Barclays is bullish on European stocks thanks in large part to “solid earnings beats and [an] uptick in EPS [earnings per share revisions]” in the first quarter.

“Overall, margins are resilient, capital returns are strong, firms are optimistic and EPS revisions have picked up. Cyclicals are seeing more upgrades, but defensives have outperformed in the recent rally,” the analysts wrote, naming two stocks with over 100% upside potential to play right now.

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— Amala Balakrishner

The artificial intelligence boom is fueling demand for power, with many tech companies rapidly developing infrastructure as they compete for dominance.

Power needs are only set to rise in the coming years, as large language models require a lot of data center capacity.

But the need for power goes beyond data centers and other infrastructure, according to Goldman.

Against that backdrop, the bank introduced what it called its power and electricity basket of stocks, comprising 50 stocks across China, South Korea, Taiwan, India and Australia.

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— Weizhen Tan

The S&P 500 is up 4.6% month to date, putting it on pace for its sixth-best May since 1950, according to LPL Financial. The market rebound after the pullback in April indicates that “‘April showers bring May flowers is a better market analogy than ‘Sell in May and Go away,'” according to Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial.

Turnquist noted that seasonality trends in the summer suggest June will be a dull month for the markets. Since 1950, the broad market index has risen an average of just 0.1% in June, with positive monthly results just 55% of months.

— Hakyung Kim