Sydney Harbor receives the Harbor Bridge, Opera House and ferries at sunrise in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic on April 20, 2020 in Sydney, Australia.
James D. Morgan | Getty Images | News Getty Images
Australian and Japanese markets post gains despite the fact that most Asian markets are closed for Labor Day on Monday.
In Australia, the so-called S&P/ASX200 rose 0.62% as factory activity within the country fell on the fastest pace in 35 months in April, with private surveys by Juno Bank showing a purchasing manager index of 48.
In Japan, the so-called Nike 225 was last up 0.69% while Topix was up 0.63%. In response to bank au Jibun, Japan’s purchasing managers index was 49.5 in April, the slightest drop in six months.
Factory activity in China unexpectedly fell into contraction territory over the weekend, with the official Industrial Purchasing Managers’ Index at 49.2, contrary to economists’ expectations of 51.4.
On Friday, all three major U.S. indices closed in positive territory, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.8%, its best performance since January. The S&P 500 gained 0.83% and the Nasdaq Composite 0.69%.
— Alex Harring and Sarah Min of CNBC contributed to this report