Asian shares mostly advanced on Wednesday, as rising metals prices lifted the shares of the region’s miners and a weaker yen boosted Japanese exporters.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 average progressed 45.50 points, or 0.5%, to 9,864.26
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index sifted off 44.20 points, or 0.2%, to 23,291.80, after pausing Tuesday for a national holiday.
The gains, however, were capped as a batch of Chinese economic data suggested that elevated inflation might lead Beijing to implement further tightening measures even as industrial production slows down.
PetroChina Co rose 1.2% in Hong Kong as commodities notched broad gains.
The Seoul market surrendered some of its morning-session gains after the release of the China inflation data. Since China is South Korea’s biggest trading partner, any further tightening measures from Beijing is viewed as a negative for the Kospi, traders said.
Heavyweight Samsung Electronics lost 0.6%, while utility stocks such as Korea Electric Power Corp. fell 1.6%.
Japanese shares climbed, with a drop in the yen against the U.S. dollar helping exporters.
Toyota Motor shares rose 0.6% ahead of its earnings report after the close. Japan’s number-one auto maker posted a 77% plunge in net profit for the January-March quarter. But it also confirmed speculation that production will return to normal sooner than expected.
The greenback bought ¥80.86, compared with ¥80.81 in late North American trading on Tuesday.
Other gainers in Tokyo included NEC Corp., up 4.1% as it managed to avoid a loss in the most recent quarter. Canon Inc. and Honda Motor Corp. also advanced.
In Sydney, shares of mining giant Rio Tinto rose 2.3%.
CHINA
China’s consumer-price index climbed 5.3% in April from a year earlier, while wholesale inflation climbed 6.8%.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Composite Index slipped 8.14 points, or 0.3%, to 3,154.08
The results compared with analysts’ expectations for rises of 5.2% for the CPI and 7.3% for producer prices, according to a poll by Dow Jones Newswires.
In other data released Wednesday, industrial output rose 13.4% year-on-year, compared with an expected 14.5% rise, and slowing from a 14.8% increase in March.
Property developers fell in Shanghai as the real-estate sector is considered highly vulnerable to monetary-tightening measures. China Vanke Co. ended little changed, easing 0.03%
Zhejiang Guangsha Co. lost 0.4%.
In other markets;
Taiwan’s Taiex Index shaved off 2.88 points to 9,020.40
Korea’s Kospi index returned from holiday to add 27.46 points, or 1.3%, to 2,166.63
Singapore’s Straits Times index gathered 20.92 points, or 0.7%, to 3,166.63
New Zealand’s NZX 50 tacked on 30.13 points, or 0.9%, to 3,558.87
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 moved higher by 54.40 points, or 1.2%, to 4,780.20
