Asian stocks traded mostly higher Thursday, with Japan rising on the back of automakers' gains despite reports that they will have to resort to temporary production interruptions tied to this week's major earthquake.
In Tokyo, Nikkei 225 index advanced 0.6% to 18,116.57 while in Hong Kong, the blue chip Hang Seng Index rose 0.8% to 23,016.20.
Among automakers, shares of Suzuki Motor Corp. gained 2.4%, Toyota Motor Corp. rose 1.1% and Nissan Motor Co. added 0.5%.
ELSEWHERE:
SEOUL: South Korea's Kospi climbed 0.4% to 1,937.90.
SHANGHAI: The Shanghai Composite lost 0.4% to 3,912.94, pulling back from an intraday high of 3,947.33, on reports that the mainland's economy expanded by as much as 11.9% in the second quarter from a year ago, while inflation during June grew 4.4% from the same time last year.
SINGAPORE: Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.4% to 3,599.90.
TAIPEI: Taiwan's Weighted index eased 0.1% to 9,473.31.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand's NZX 50 index added 0.9% to 4,294.26.
SYDNEY: Australia's S&P/ASX 200 finished 0.9% up at 6,384.20.
With files from wire services
