Asian markets gain amid Opec deal and better-than-expected China PMI data

Asian stock market indices were trading higher on Thursday (1 December), with the Shanghai Composite up 0.52% at 3,267.08 as of 4.59am GMT. This was amid the overnight Opec deal and China announcing better-than-expected Purchasing Managers' index (PMI) data.

On Wednesday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) agreed to cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd). At the conclusion of its meeting in Vienna, Austria, the oil cartel added that the new headline oil production would stand at 32.5 million bpd.

This marked its first output cut since 2008. Non-Opec producer Russia also said that it will join in output reductions.

Commenting on the same, Chang Wei Liang from Mizuho Bank Singapore, was cited by CNBC as saying, "The first joint production cut by Opec-Russia in eight years is likely to accelerate the rebalancing of the crude oil market and provide a durable support to oil prices [but] higher oil prices would have quite disparate effects on different EM Asian countries."

The markets are also said to have gotten a boost from the better-than-expected China PMI data. The world's second largest economy said that its (PMI) was up at 51.7 in November. This was better than a Reuters forecast of 51 and was also more than the 51.2 recorded in October.

PMI is an indicator of the economic health of the manufacturing sector. It is based on five major indicators namely, new orders, inventory levels, production, supplier deliveries and the employment environment. While a reading under 50 represents a contraction, one above 50 indicates expansion.

Indices in the region were trading as follows at 5.18am GMT:

Overnight (30 November), the FTSE 100 closed 0.17% higher at 6,783.79, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.01% higher at 19,123.58.

Among commodities, oil prices were trading in the green. As of 5.23am GMT, WTI crude oil was trading higher by 0.95% at $49.91 (£39.85) a barrel, while Brent crude was trading 8.82% higher at $50.47 a barrel.