Asia: Shanghai, Tokyo closed but Chinese manufacturing PMI beats consensus

It was quiet on the market front in Asia overnight, with Japan's and China's stock markets among those closed for holidays.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed up 1.07% higher at 23,857.8 points.

There was significant economic news to be had from the region, however, as the official Chinese manufacturing sector purchasing managers’ index revealed a fall to 50.1 in December from 50.3 in November.

An economist at the state statistics bureau and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing reportedly blamed the retreat on weakness in export demand, falling factory gate prices and the country’s move towards a more service-oriented economy.

However, the figure did come in above the consensus forecast of 50.

Also in China, property developer Kaisa Group became the first major debt defaulter of the year, as it failed to make payments on its HK$400m loan from HSBC and warned it may struggle to pay off its other debts.

In Japan, fears of a population crisis were fanned by figures showing that births in the country hit their lowest level since records began and the population declined in 2014, with 268,000 more deaths than the 1m births in the year.

The worst prediction points to the Japanese population declining by a third over the next five decades, according to CNN, with government measures hitherto unsuccessful in averting the decline and immigration a sore point in the country.