Asian stocks finished mostly higher Wednesday, with Chinese economic data sending Hong Kong shares up and the yen’s recent weakness helping extend gains in Tokyo.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 59.75 points, or 0.4%, to 15,728.35, a fresh seven-month high, on a surge in the U.S. dollar against the yen.
The gains come amid expectations that the appointment of Yasuhisa Shiozaki to the Japanese cabinet could spur additional investment in the stock market by Japan’s $1.2-trillion U.S. public pension fund. The appointment, officially announced Wednesday, has generated more interest in Japanese stocks. Overall volume on the Japanese market topped two billion shares for the fifth time in the past six sessions.
The dollar’s surge, which works in favor of Japanese exporters, has also helped. The greenback has strengthened over the past two months as the U.S. Federal Reserve moved ever closer to raising interest rates, as the European and Japanese central banks move toward possible further loosening of monetary policy.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong popped 568.93 points, or 2.3%, to 25,317.95, on China purchasing data (see below).
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 index picked up 22.38 points, or 0.9%, to 2,408.84, after the HSBC China services Purchasing Managers’ Index for August rose to 54.1, a 17-month high. Meanwhile, the official non-manufacturing PMI reading rose for the first time in three months to 54.4 in August.
Amid signs that world’s second-largest economy could be slowing again—China reported weak factory data earlier in the week—investors appear to be focusing on possible reform measures from Beijing.
China’s Communist Party will hold its Fourth Plenary session in October, possibly bringing themes such as the rule of law and economic reforms to the fore.
Sectors such as media that are expected to benefit from Beijing’s reforms have rallied. On Wednesday, Northern United Publishing & Media (Group) hit its 10% upper limit at 10.77 yuan, Zhejiang Daily Media Group gained 5.9% to 19.28 yuan and People.cn climbed 4.3% to 50.88 yuan.
In other markets;
In Singapore, the Straits Times STI Index advanced 20.47 points, or 0.6%, to 3,348.77
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index regrouped 50.63 points, or 0.5%, to 9,450.35
In Korea, the Kospi index stepped back 0.38 points, to 2,051.20
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 moved up 2.62 points, or 0.1%, to 5,224.40
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 erased 2.42 points to 5,656.10
