The HSBC PMI for December rose to 50.9, the highest level since October 2011.
Stronger demand at home and abroad helped boost India's HSBC PMI to 54.2 in February from 53.2 in January.
Many of these stocks were down before the HSBC PMI data, and failed to react to the modest April improvement.
But if the HSBC PMI is the same as last month, or worse, look for China to sell off as it will give tactical investors one more reason to be bearish.
Still, the below-50 readings in the HSBC PMI suggest that activity and demand remain soft and that a strong rebound in the fourth appears unlikely, Barclays Capital analysts led by Jian Chang in Hong Kong warned on Wednesday.
Export weakness in July may have continued into August, which contributed to the decline of the HSBC PMI, which has a higher weight than the official PMI for export-oriented companies in the coastal region, noted Zhiwei Zhang, an analyst for Nomura Securities in Hong Kong.
One cautionary note, however, is that while the HSBC PMI is meant to be seasonally adjusted, it has only risen in June from May in two of the last eight years (on average it has fallen by 0.8 points), suggesting there may have been some downward seasonal bias in the way HSBC runs the numbers.
The HSBC Flash China Manufacturing PMI is published a week ahead of the final HSBC China PMI every month.
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This is also consistent with the rise in the HSBC flash PMI to 49.1 from 47.9, and confirms that economic momentum has indeed picked up.
The HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI retreated to 48.7 in May from the final April reading of 49.3.
In Asian news overnight, the HSBC China manufacturing PMI came in at 50.4 in April versus 51.6 in March.
HSBC's PMI measure showed Vietnam manufacturing contracting in the month, falling to 48.3 versus a 50.1 reading in January.
Investors should not be expecting any upside surprises to HSBC China flash PMI on Thursday morning, Nomura Securities analysts said in a note to clients on Thursday.
HSBC's China PMI is seen as a forward-looking indicator, based on surveys with executives in over 420 manufacturing companies.
HSBC's final PMI in December had showed export orders falling, at odds with government data which pointed to a recovery in shipments.
BBC: China manufacturing activity at two-year high, says HSBC
Deteriorating global sentiment may have been a factor in Vietnam's manufacturing contraction in February, as HSBC's Vietnam PMI slipped to 48.3 from January's 50.1 reading.
In China, the HSBC Flash Manufacturing Index (PMI) rose to a 13-month high of 50.4 in November.
The HSBC preliminary reading, called Flash PMI, is a private survey of more than 420 companies.
BBC: China manufacturing activity at two-year high, says HSBC
But on the same day, HSBC released its own set of PMI data, showing the third straight month of declines.
The preliminary HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for May fell to 49.6.
The HSBC purchasing managers index, or PMI, is compiled after polling around 400 manufacturing firms which tend to be more export-orientated than those surveyed in the official PMI from the National Bureau of Statistics.
The preliminary reading of HSBC's Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 51.7, from 50.4 in February.
The preliminary reading of HSBC's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 50.5, from 51.6 in March.
In China, the last flash PMI print was 49.3 from HSBC and will struggle to come in at 50, a positive for the market if it does.
HSBC's initial China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to a two-year high of 51.9 in January.
Meanwhile, the much-watched PMI data from the National Bureau of Statistics and HSBC Bank saw steady improvement.
The official PMI is generally seen as reflective of state-owned companies, while the HSBC version is a better proxy for the private sector.
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