Chinese and Hong Kong stocks surged on Monday as hopes that Beijing may soon relax its monetary policies to support economic growth spurred strong buying across sectors.
Many regional markets suffered modest losses, however, as doubts about the euro-zone’s efforts to contain the debt crisis prompted investor caution despite upbeat U.S. employment data on Friday.
Markets in Japan had the day off.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index revived 272.66 points, or 1.5%, to 18,865.70
In Hong Kong, Yanzhou jumped 4.9%, Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. added 4.9% and Haier Electronics Group Co. gained 6%.
The performance in the rest of Asia was less impressive. U.S. stocks ended on a lackluster note Friday, with investors looking past some upbeat U.S. employment data, after Italian bond yields rose back over the 7% mark and the euro dropped below $1.27 for the first time since September 2010.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were due to meet later Monday to discuss Europe’s debt crisis.
Consumer discretionary stocks lost ground in Australia after data showed that retail sales stagnated in November.
Shares of upmarket department-store operator David Jones Ltd. lost 2.9%, while those of JB Hi-Fi Ltd. traded down 1.1%.
Several technology and financial stocks were among the decliners, with Sinopac Financial Holdings Co. losing 1.7% and Nanya Technology Corp. shedding 6.7% in Taipei.
In Seoul, Samsung Electronics Co. shed 2.3% and Shinhan Financial Group Co. dropped 1.6%, while Macquarie Group Ltd. declined 1.9% in Sydney.
CHINA
The gains in Shanghai helped a rebound in Hong Kong after a weak start, and also led to narrower losses in some of the other markets.
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 Index gained 77.97 points, or 3.4%, to 2,368.57
The gains on Chinese and Hong Kong bourses came after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, over the weekend, called for efforts to boost confidence in the share market, and for rule changes to allow private-capital investment in banks and insurers.
Shares of Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. jumped 8.2% to lead several coal miners sharply up in Shanghai; among other notable gainers, Jiangxi Copper Co. jumped 5.3% and Anhui Conch Cement Co. climbed 5.6%.
In other markets;
Taiwan’s Taiex Index deducted 27.47 points, or 0.4%, to 7,093.04
Korea’s Kospi Index shed 16.65 points, or 0.9%, to 1,826.49
Singapore’s Straits Times Index docked 24.31 points, or 0.9%, to 2,691.28
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index fell 6.16 points, or 0.2%, to 3,247.28
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 3.10 points, or 0.1%, to 4,105.40
