Asian markets rose Tuesday as investors continued to hope global central banks will provide stimulus to support growth, with Hong Kong stocks extending gains in afternoon trading in response to better-than-expected economic data from Europe.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index added 44.33 points, or 0.5%, to 8,929.88
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong vaulted 210.32 points, or 1.1%, to 20,291.68
Strong gains were seen in some sectors that are generally considered to be defensive bets — those that are less affected by broad economic conditions.
Utility firms Chubu Electric Power Co. rallied 5.4% and Tokyo Gas Co. rose 1.5% in Japan, while China Resources Power Holdings Co. 3% in Hong Kong.
BlueScope Steel Ltd. jumped another 12.9% in Sydney, on top of Monday’s 34.6% surge, a day after signing an alliance deal with Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. Nippon Steel ended little changed.
National Australia Bank Ltd. dropped 1.4% in Sydney after reporting a flat quarterly profit and a small drop in revenue.
Shipping-related firms were retreating, with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. falling 2.7% in Tokyo after J.P. Morgan cut its stance on the firm — and the Japanese shipping sector overall — to neutral from overweight.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. fell 2.7% and Nippon Yusen K.K. declined 1.7%.
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. dropped 1% in Seoul after a downgrade to neutral from outperform at Credit Suisse.
Toshiba Corp. fell 3.7% after it scrapped immediate plans to release devices based on a new version of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows software.
A report out Tuesday also said that the firm will sell a 16% stake in U.S. nuclear power-plant firm Westinghouse Electric Co. from its current 67% ownership.
Swire Properties Ltd. skidded 4.2% on news a large shareholder was selling a stake in the company.
CHINA
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index gained back 5.09 points, or 0.2%, to 2,357.02
Property stocks rebounded after suffering deep losses the previous day, with Poly Real Estate Group Co. rising 2.9% in Shanghai and China Vanke Co. gaining 1.9% in Shenzhen.
But brokerage shares stretched out their steep declines from the previous session, with Citic Securities Co. dropping 1.6% and Haitong Securities Co. losing 1.1%.
In other markets
Taiwan’s Taiex Index recovered 42.95 points, or 0.6%, to 7,479.25
Singapore’s Straits Times Index picked up 23.03 points, or 0.8%, to 3,087.84
Korea’s Kospi Index regained 24.52 points, or 1.3%, to 1,956.96
New Zealand’s NZX index picked up 13.92 points, or 0.4%, to 3,608.88
Australia’s ASX Index inched up 8.88 points, or 0.2%, to 4,292.17
