Asian stocks dropped a second day after Japan’s largest manufacturers became more pessimistic and China’s manufacturing shrank for second month amid a global economic slowdown that has sapped export demand.

China’s purchasing managers’ index signaled for a second month that manufacturing is contracting, the first time that’s happened since 2009.

Japan’s Tankan index of sentiment among large industrial companies fell to minus 3, posting a negative reading for a fourth quarter, the Bank of Japan said today. A number below zero figure means pessimists outnumber optimists.

Nikkei 225 8,796.51   -73.65 -0.83%

S&P/ASX 200 4,388.62      +1.61 +0.04%

Shanghai Composite Closed

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest carmaker by market value, fell 1.7 percent.

Nippon Shokubai, which supplies a third of the global market for chemicals used in diapers, slumped 13 percent to 757 yen in Tokyo, the most since October 1987, after a fire at its western Japan factory on Sept. 29 led to a death and stopped output.

Among stocks that advanced, Arrium jumped 25 percent to 68 Australian cents. The company rejected an offer from a consortium led by Noble Group and Posco Australia Pty. to buy its shares at 75 Australian cents apiece, saying the offer “undervalues Arrium.”