{"id":72448,"date":"2026-09-30T21:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T01:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/asia-pacific-markets-mixed-as-manufacturing-growth-accelerates-across-the-region\/72448\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T21:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T01:08:16","slug":"asia-pacific-markets-mixed-as-manufacturing-growth-accelerates-across-the-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/asia-pacific-markets-mixed-as-manufacturing-growth-accelerates-across-the-region\/72448\/","title":{"rendered":"Asia-Pacific Markets Mixed as Manufacturing Growth Accelerates Across the Region"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Manufacturing activity surged across Asia in September<\/strong>, with <strong>Taiwan\u2019s PMI hitting a five-year high of 56.7<\/strong> and <strong>South Korea reaching a four-month peak of 53.9<\/strong> on the back of record export demand.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 advanced 1.0%<\/strong> as a rally in semiconductor stocks offset a <strong>historic 18.5% plunge in Nidec (<a href=\"\/stock\/6594.T\">6594.T<\/a>)<\/strong> following reports of a <strong>\u00a51 trillion ($6.3 billion) impairment charge<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Australia\u2019s ASX 200 slid 1.3% to 8,679.40 points<\/strong>, weighed down by falling U.S. equity futures and hawkish inflation projections from the central bank.<\/li>\n<li><strong>OpenAI President Greg Brockman has reportedly withdrawn a pledged $25 million donation<\/strong> to an AI-focused super PAC, signaling increased corporate sensitivity to AI industry backlash.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Zambia secured $2.14 billion in investment deals with the UAE<\/strong>, including a major copper expansion initiative aimed at reaching <strong>3 million tonnes of annual production by 2031<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Regional Markets and Economic Data<\/h2>\n<p>Asia-Pacific equities opened the new quarter with a mixed performance as investors balanced robust regional manufacturing data against rising bond yields. <strong>Taiwan\u2019s S&amp;P Global Manufacturing PMI strengthened to 56.7<\/strong> in September, up from 54.7 in August, marking the fastest output growth in over five years. Similarly, <strong>South Korea\u2019s manufacturing PMI rose to 53.9<\/strong>, driven by the strongest export demand for semiconductors and automobiles in over 15 years.<\/p>\n<p>In Japan, the <strong>S&amp;P Global Manufacturing PMI was confirmed at 54.1<\/strong>, remaining in expansion territory for the ninth consecutive month despite a slight softening from August. The <strong>Nikkei 225 gained 1.0%<\/strong>, buoyed by chip heavyweights like Tokyo Electron (<a href=\"\/stock\/8035.T\">8035.T<\/a>) and Advantest (<a href=\"\/stock\/6857.T\">6857.T<\/a>). However, the index faced significant downward pressure from <strong>Nidec (<a href=\"\/stock\/6594.T\">6594.T<\/a>)<\/strong>, which saw its shares sink <strong>18.5%<\/strong> amid a governance crisis and a massive projected write-down that could erase a decade of profits.<\/p>\n<h2>Fixed Income and Currency Trends<\/h2>\n<p>Japanese Government Bond (JGB) yields showed divergent movements as the market awaited the <strong>Bank of Japan (BOJ) Tankan survey<\/strong> and the Summary of Opinions. The <strong>20-year JGB yield gained 3.5 basis points to 3.935%<\/strong>, while the <strong>5-year yield edged up 0.5 basis points to 2.380%<\/strong>. Conversely, the <strong>2-year JGB yield declined 1.0 basis point to 1.940%<\/strong>, reflecting a cautious outlook on short-term rate hikes.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>Japanese Yen<\/strong> traded in a narrow range between <strong>156 and 157 per dollar<\/strong>, with traders remaining sidelined ahead of the U.S. non-farm payrolls report. <em>Market analysts suggest that while BOJ members remain open to further rate hikes, the narrowing yield gap with the U.S. remains the primary driver for currency volatility.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Corporate and Geopolitical Developments<\/h2>\n<p>In the technology sector, <strong>OpenAI President Greg Brockman<\/strong> and his wife have reportedly pulled back on a <strong>$25 million pledged donation<\/strong> to the &quot;Leading the Future&quot; super PAC. The move comes as the artificial intelligence industry faces heightened regulatory scrutiny and public backlash. In commodities, <strong>CME <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/metal\/gold\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"gold price today\">gold<\/a> options volume remained unchanged<\/strong> for September, even as prices settled roughly <strong>9% below the peak<\/strong> reached in August.<\/p>\n<p>On the geopolitical front, <strong>U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio<\/strong> reportedly ordered the <strong>Iranian UN delegation to exit the United States<\/strong> after negotiations hit a deadlock. The move marks a significant diplomatic escalation following the conclusion of the UN General Assembly. Meanwhile, <strong>Zambia<\/strong> continues its aggressive economic push, signing a <strong>$2.14 billion MOU with UAE partners<\/strong> to support copper expansion and infrastructure, including a proposed <strong>$2 billion medical city<\/strong> in Lusaka.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Manufacturing activity surged across Asia in September, with Taiwan\u2019s PMI hitting a five-year high of 56.7 and South [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[4025,5112,5139,5317,6458,16163,22855,22856],"class_list":["post-72448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-boj","tag-jgb","tag-nikkei-225","tag-openai","tag-asx-200","tag-samsung-electronics-005930-ks-stock-005930-ks","tag-nidec-6594-t-stock-6594-t","tag-tsmc-2330-tw-stock-2330-tw"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}