Asia stocks gained Thursday, led by an advance in Japanese shares, while mainland China stocks also charged higher after quarterly growth data met expectations, while separate September data pointed to an improvement in the world’s second-largest economy.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index continued its march, hiking 176.31 points, or 2%, to 8,982.86
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index improved 102.07 points, or 0.5%, to 21,518.71
Hopes of a more aggressive policy stance from the Bank of Japan helped underpin gains in property-related stocks, according to experts, who said prospects of a new government taking over in Tokyo in the near future was also a factor driving the market advance.
Growth-tied commodity-sector firms were performing well on Thursday in Hong Kong, with Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. up 2.3%, while Jiangxi Copper Co. jumped 4%, China Shenhua Energy Co. rose 2.2% and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, gained 1.6%.
Share-price gains for metal-related firms were sharper in Japan, where Kobe Steel Ltd. climbed 4.5% and Pacific Metals Co. jumped 4.9%.
China is a key customer for many Australian miners, and the sector climbed, with heavyweight Rio Tinto Ltd. surging 4.8% and rival BHP Billiton Ltd. ahead by 3.3%.
Early strength in Asia Thursday followed an uptick on Wall Street on Wednesday, after data indicated that the U.S. housing market continues to improve.
Hong Kong’s U.S.-exposed exporters were advancing, with Li & Fung Ltd. up 4.4%, and Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. adding 3.4%.
Next Media jumped 41% in Hong Kong after the media conglomerate sold its television and print operations in Taiwan for HK$4.64 billion ($600 million U.S.), exceeding the market capitalization of the company, even as it retained its profitable Hong Kong operations.
The dollar traded at ¥79.64 late Thursday in East Asia, up from ¥79.03 late Wednesday and ¥78.91 on Tuesday. The euro bought ¥103.77, after hitting a one-month high against the yen Wednesday.
CHINA
China’s gross domestic product grew 7.4% in the third quarter, meeting forecasts from separate polls by Dow Jones Newswires and Reuters, but marking the slowest pace since early 2009.
The Shanghai CSI 300 index leaped 35.27 points, or 1.5%, to 2,336.08
Along with the GDP figures, industrial output for September rose 9.2% year-on-year, accelerating from 8.9% in August, while retail sales gained 14.2%, up from August’s 13.2% rise.
The data follow comments made a day earlier by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who said that the Chinese economy was in reasonable shape in the third quarter and is expected to reach its fiscal-year targets, according to reports.
In other markets
The Singapore Straits Times Index recovered 14.69 points, or 0.5%, to 3,060.36
Korea’s Kospi index gained 3.97 points, or 0.2%, to 1,959.12
Taiwan’s Taiex Index eked ahead 1.01 points to 7,465.41
New Zealand’s NZX 50 added 36.77 points, or 0.9%, to 4,001.95
Australia’s ASX Index rose 31.23 points, or 0.7%, to 4,559.43
