Bangkok, Sep 1 (AP) Shares were mixed in Asia on Monday, with markets in China gaining after surveys showed a slight improvement in Chinese factory data, suggesting manufacturing is holding up despite higher US tariffs.

Investors were awaiting further developments after the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Friday that Trump went too far when he declared national emergencies to justify imposing sweeping import taxes on almost every country on earth.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 2 per cent to 25,573.58, while the Shanghai Composite index added 0.3 per cent to 3,869.96.

A government survey showed China's factory activity improved marginally in August, with a measure known as the purchasing managers index rising to 49.4 from 49.3 in July. The survey is on a scale of 0 to 100 where 50 marks the cutoff for expansion.

That survey and another, private sector one that showed the general PMI at 49.9 last month, up from 49.4 in July, still show manufacturing contracting. But both suggest resilience despite US President Donald Trump's higher tariffs.

China and the US are still negotiating over a broad trade agreement that will influence how much import duty companies and consumers will pay on goods shipped to the US.

“The PMIs suggest that China's economy accelerated last month, thanks to faster growth across manufacturing and services. But we don't see much upside over the rest of the year,” Zichun Huang of Capital Economics said in a commentary.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 2 per cent to 41,849.82, while the Kospi in South Korea shed 0.8 per cent to 3,161.31.

Shares also fell in Australia, with the S&P/ASX 200 losing 0.7 per cent to 8,913.10.

Taiwan's benchmark lost 1.1 per cent while New Zealand's gained 0.5 per cent.

US markets will be closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.

On Friday, Wall Street closed out another winning month though benchmarks ended below their latest all-time highs.

The S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent a day after climbing to a record high, ending the week at 6,460.26. The benchmark index ended August with a 1.9 per cent gain, its fourth straight month of gains. It's now up 9.8 per cent so far this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average also came off its own record high, slipping 0.2 per cent to 45,544.88. The Nasdaq composite closed 1.2 per cent lower at 21,455.55.

Losses in technology weighed on the market, offsetting gains in health care and other sectors.

Dell Technologies slid 8.9 per cent for the biggest decline among S&P 500 stocks a day after the company reported second-quarter revenue that exceeded analysts' expectations, but noted that margin pressures and weakness in PC revenue.

Among other tech companies that ended the day in the red: Tech giant Nvidia fell 3.3 per cent, Broadcom dropped 3.6 per cent and Oracle slid 5.9 per cent.

Mixed economic data gave traders an excuse to sell and pocket some profits following the market's milestone-setting week.

The Commerce Department said prices rose 2.6 per cent in July compared with a year earlier, as measured by the personal consumption expenditures index. That's the same annual increase as in June and in line with what economists expected.

Still, excluding the volatile food and energy categories, prices rose 2.9 per cent last month from a year earlier, up from 2.8 per cent in June and the highest since February.

The most recent government data suggests hiring has slowed sharply since this spring, raising alarm over the direction of the broader economy.

Meanwhile, the latest reading in a survey of US consumers by the University of Michigan showed sentiment soured in August, hitting its lowest level since May due to concerns about prices and the economy.

Not all stocks lost ground. Petco Health & Wellness and Autodesk bucked the broader market slide after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. Petco jumped 23.5 per cent and Autodesk climbed 9.1 per cent.

In other dealings early Monday, US benchmark crude oil shed 23 cents to USD 63.78 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 28 cents to USD 67.20 per barrel.

The US dollar slipped to 146.93 Japanese yen from 147.00 yen. The euro rose to USD 1.1770 from USD 1.1682. (AP) GRS GRS

Presidential emergency authority curtailed, limiting use of emergency import tariffs and shifting focus to trade negotiations. A federal appellate ruling constrains presidential emergency authority to impose sweeping import taxes via emergency declarations, limiting the executive branch's unilateral pathway for broad tariff deployment and increasing reliance on statutory procedures and US-China trade negotiations to determine future import duty levels.