Investing.com - Asian shares trended weaker on Thursday as investors assessed the latest read on Chinese manufacturing activity.
The Hang Seng Index was down 0.3% and the Shanghai Composite was down 0.2% after HSBC's preliminary report on Chinese manufacturing activity came in at 50.4 in October, compared with 50.2 in September.
"The HSBC China Manufacturing PMI improved to 50.4 in the flash reading for October - up from 50.2 in the final reading for September. Domestic as well as external demand showed some signs of slowing although both remained in expansion territory. Disinflationary pressures intensified as both the input and output price indices declined further," said Qu Hongbin, HSBC's chief China economist.
"While the manufacturing sector likely stabilized in October, the economy continues to show signs of insufficient effective demand. This warrants further policy easing and we expect more easing measures on both the monetary as well as fiscal fronts in the months ahead."
Reaction in the region was relatively muted given investors' expectation of slowdown signs from China. Earlier in the week, data showed China's economy grew at 7.3% in the third quarter compared with a year earlier, a slower pace from the second quarter but a touch faster than expected.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.5%.
In Australia, stocks were roughly flat Thursday, after seven straight sessions of gains, and traded back in positive territory for the year.
Korea's Kospi was down 0.1%.
Overnight, U.S. stocks fell on news of a shooting at Canada's Parliament that left a soldier and the gunman dead, while falling oil prices brought stocks down lower as well.
The Dow 30 fell 0.92%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.73%, while the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.83%.
A gunman shot a soldier in Ottawa earlier at the National War Memorial, and while authorities took out the shooter, news reports of gunfire also taking place inside the halls of Parliament alongside talk of possible accomplices spooked markets and sent stock prices falling earlier.
On Thursday, the U.S. is to publish its weekly report on initial jobless claims.