Hong Kong shares led gains in the Asia-Pacific as investors looked ahead to the Fed’s meeting minutes, watching for signs of more interest rate hikes.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 returned from a long weekend to dump 377.64 points, or 1.5%, to 25,716,86, as the au Jibun Bank Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing manager’s index for December fell further into contraction territory.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng leaped 647.82 points, or 3.2%, to 20,793.11, while the Hang Seng Tech index gained more than 3.1%.
Chinese technology and healthcare stocks listed in Hong Kong led gains in the Hang Seng index alongside property stocks in Wednesday’s trading session.
Country Garden Services and Longfor Group saw the most gains, with both rising nearly 10% in Wednesday’s afternoon trade. Alibaba Health Information Technology also rose 8.87% and Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group gained 7.42%.
Baidu rose 7% and Alibaba traded 6.9% higher after Ant received approval to expand its consumer finance business. Netease shares also rose 5.2% in the afternoon trade.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 nosed ahead 5.05 points, or 0.1%, to 3,892.95.
In Taiwan, the Taiex shed 24.99 points, or 0.2%, to 14,199.13
In Korea, the Kospi index recovered 37.3 points, or 1.7%, to 2,255.98.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index fell 3.34 points, or 0.1%, to 3,242.98.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 returned from holiday to jump 114.24 points, or 1%, to 11,587.48.
In Australia, the ASX 200 regained 113.03 points, or 1.6%, to 7,059.22.
