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China's factory activity maintained steady growth momentum in November, boosted by resilient new orders, though the pace of expansion eased slightly from October, final HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed.
The final PMI reading came in at 50.8 in November, down from 50.9 in October but improving from a preliminary reading of 50.4.
"China's manufacturing sector kept relatively steady growth momentum in November, as the final manufacturing PMI was revised up from the flash reading on the back of faster new business gains," said Hongbin Qu, chief China economist at HSBC.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down about 0.1%, paring losses after the PMI survey, while Japan's benchmark Nikkei shed 0.2%.
Last month, the Nikkei rallied 9.3%, spurred by strong earnings and a weakened yen, with the index hitting its highest closing level in nearly six years on Thursday.
Data released on Monday showed Japanese companies raised spending on factories and equipment in the July-September quarter, but the slow pace of increase casts some doubt on the strength of capital spending that is needed to help sustain economic growth.
The dollar slipped about 0.2% to 102.26 yen, moving away from a six-month high of 102.61 yen touched on Friday. The euro fell about 0.1% to 139.07 yen, stepping back from Friday's five-year high of 139.70 yen.
"The dollar finished November at its highest level against the yen since May. It appears to have broken out of the six month consolidative pattern," Marc Chandler, global head of foreign exchange strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman said in a research note.
While the 140-yen area could mark psychological resistance for the euro, the 141-yen level could be more significant from a technical perspective, Chandler said, as it represents 61.8% retracement of the euro's slide from 170 yen in 2008 to the 2012 low around 94 yen.
US data later in the week remains a key focus, with the US Federal Reserve poised to reduce its stimulus as soon as it deems the economy is strong enough.
Nonfarm payrolls for November is scheduled for release on Friday, with economists expecting an increase of 185,000 jobs last month, down from 204,000 in October, according to a Reuters survey of economists.
Other major economic indicators due this week include the Institute for Supply Management's data on the US manufacturing and services sectors. The ISM factory index will be released later on Monday, and the ISM services index is due out on Wednesday.
In commodities trading, gold was down about 0.4% at $1,244.86 an ounce, undermined by signs of a stronger US economy that could compel the Fed to reduce its stimulus. Gold has lost around a quarter of its value so far this year, on track to post its first annual loss in 13 years.
Brent crude oil gained about 0.5% to $110.25 a barrel, after shedding more than $1 on Friday, while US crude was about 0.4% higher at $93.12 as traders weighed supply outages in Libya against US inventory levels.
