Good morning, you're tuned in to Markets Desk, and here's where things stand.
China's manufacturing sector contracted for a second consecutive month in August, though the pace of decline came in softer than analysts had feared. That modest silver lining is doing little to ease pressure on Beijing, which faces mounting calls to deploy fresh stimulus as the broader growth trajectory continues to soften heading into the fourth quarter.
Shifting to energy markets, oil is climbing more than one percent this session after U.S. forces struck two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. The attack has rattled supply confidence in a region that handles a significant share of global crude flows, and traders are pricing in a meaningful risk premium as the geopolitical picture sharpens.
Meanwhile in Japan, the Nikkei two twenty five is sharply lower this Monday, reversing Friday's gains after Wall Street closed the week on a broadly negative note. Index heavyweights in the financial and industrial sectors are leading the decline, with the benchmark falling well below the sixty-five thousand one hundred level as risk appetite retreats across Asian markets.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
