The world's big manufacturing economies struggled to fire up in October, business surveys showed on Monday, as weak US demand and President Donald Trump's tariffs hit factory orders.
US Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook said she sees the risk of further labour-market weakness as greater than the risk that inflation will pick up, but stopped short of endorsing another interest-rate cut next month.
Renewed weakness in new manufacturing orders in October signalled softer demand conditions ahead for Malaysia, economists said, after the S&P Global purchasing managers index (PMI) eased to 49.5 from 49.8 in September, remaining below the 50-point expansion threshold.
Asian equities edged lower on Tuesday along with equity-index futures after weaker US economic data and uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) policy outlook weighed on sentiment.
China’s manufacturing activity expanded less than forecast in October, a private survey showed, adding to worrying signs about the economy’s momentum as the year winds down.
Asian stocks rose on Monday as the US-China trade truce and surging investment in artificial intelligence (AI) buoyed risk sentiment, while the dollar firmed to a three-month high on easing rate cut wagers after hawkish comments from policymakers.