Investing.com - Shares in Shanghai gained on Wednesday after a mixed set of PMI data from China, but other markets drifted weaker.
The Shanghai Composite rose 0.34%. The S&P/ASX 200 however fell 1.26% despite solid GDP data for the first quarter and the Nikkei 225 fell 0.57% also despite solid data on capital spending.
The Caixin manufacturing PMI came in at 49.2, below the 49.3 expected, and down from the previous 49.4.
Earlier in China the semi-official CFLP manufacturing PMI for May came in a bit higher than expected at 50.1, unchanged from the previous month. The non-manufacturing PMI for May came in at 53.1, down from 53.5 the previous month.
Australia said first quarter GDP rose 3.1%, compared with a 2.8% rise seen year-on-year and at a 1.1% pace quarter-on-quarter.
Almost all of the growth came from net exports, while net real national disposable income continues to fall despite above-trend GDP growth.
Earlier, Australia reported the AIG manufacturing index eased to 51 in May from 53.4 the previous month.
Japan reported the manufacturing PMI for May at 47.7, compared with 47.6 seen. Earlier, Japan reported first quarter capital spending jumped 4.2%, compared with with a 1.9% gain seen year-on-year.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were mixed on Tuesday, erasing some gains from late last week as a rapid decline in crude futures and a sell-off in Boeing Company (NYSE:NYSE:BA) shares weighed on the major indices.
On Tuesday afternoon, crude futures turned negative for the session after UAE oil minister Suhail Al Mazroui said the oil market has been correcting upwards of late and that he is happy with the market's current state.
Marzoui's comments come ahead of a closely-watched OPEC meeting on Thursday in Vienna. OPEC, the world's largest oil cartel, is widely unexpected to freeze production at January levels at the semi-annual meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 86.09 or 0.48% to 17,787.13, while the S&P 500 Composite index lost 2.11 or 0.10% to 2,096.95 on a bearish day for stocks. The NASDAQ Composite index, meanwhile, gained 14.55 or 0.29% to 4,948.06, amid a strong performance among semiconductor sectors.