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Asia stocks hobbled by growth woes, China PMI fails to impress
Asian shares sagged on Thursday after a retreat on Wall Street and falling crude oil prices rekindled investor anxiety over slowing global growth, while a mixed picture on Chinese manufacturing failed to impress markets. Japan's Nikkei share average fell 0.5 percent while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.2 percent. The flash HSBC/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) edged up to a three-month high of 50.4 from a final reading of 50.2 in September, and just a hair's breadth from the 50.3 reading forecast by analysts. But the level of output in factories fell to a ... (full story)