Most regional markets in Asia advanced, with stocks in Shanghai and Hong Kong gaining ground after two separate surveys showed China’s manufacturing activity continued to expand in February, albeit at a smaller pace.
The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo gained 129.94 points, or 1.2%, to 10,754
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 58.40 points, or 0.3%, to 23,396.40.
Japanese stocks were cheered by the weaker yen and by expectations for solid numbers for the U.S. Institute for Supply Management manufacturing data due later in the global day.
Dentsu rose 4.9% on a business tie-up with Facebook, while Shinsei Bank rose 7.7% on a Credit Suisse upgrade to outperform after the bank announced a capital-raising plan.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group added 3.2% on a plan to buy back 210 billion yen ($2.56 billion U.S.) of its preferred shares for retirement.
Daiichi Sankyo added 0.4% after saying it will spend $805 million U.S. to buy California-based drug maker Plexxikon Inc.
In Hong Kong, heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC slumped 5.1% a day after it reported that 2010 net profit more than doubled to $13.2 billion, but also fell short of expectations.
UBS said that rising costs for HSBC are becoming a concern, though loan growth and robust deposit momentum look compelling.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended lower, with banks declining after the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to leave its cash rate target on hold at 4.75%, as had been widely expected.
Shares of Australia & New Zealand Banking Group dropped 0.5% and National Australia Bank lost 0.9%.
Equinox Minerals dropped 6.1% after making an A$4.9 billion ($4.99 billion U.S.) hostile bid for Canada’s Lundin Mining. Lundin has said the offer is insufficient.
Origin Energy fell 3.4% as the shares went ex-dividend.
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 Index tacked on 15.33 points, or 0.5%, to 3,254.89.
China’s official manufacturing PMI slowed to 52.2 in February from 52.9 in January, while the HSBC PMI for February fell to 51.7 from 54.5 in January.
A PMI reading above 50 indicates an expansion in manufacturing activity, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction.
Both sets of data also highlighted rising input-cost pressures, drawing different responses from market participants on monetary-policy options facing Beijing.
Credit Suisse economist Dong Tao said the firm doesn’t expect a change in Beijing’s monetary policy because of Tuesday’s data, and that more hikes in interest rates and reserve-ratio requirements were expected to follow.
Aluminum Corp. of China rose 2.1% in Shanghai but dropped 4% in Hong Kong. The company swung to a profit in 2010, though the figure fell short of expectations.
In other markets;
Taiwan’s Taiex Index returned from holiday to add 127.91 points, or 1.5%, to 8,727.56
Korea’s Kospi Index had the day off
Singapore’s Straits Times Index grew 57.09 points, or 1.9%, to 3,067.60
New Zealand’s NZX 50 inched forward 13.87 points, or 0.4%, to 3,384.39
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 5.26 points, or 0.1%, to 4,826.40
