Hong Kong stocks pushed higher Monday, setting aside data released Friday that U.S. jobs growth expanded at a much slower-than-anticipated pace in December.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 42.51 points, or 0.2%, to 22,888.76
Stock in Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., or Chalco stood out by surging 8.5% after the company projected its 2013 operating results will swing to profit.
Also up were shares of Lenovo Group Ltd., tacking on 1.7% as the Chinese company held the top spot among worldwide PC makers in shipments last year, according to preliminary data from International Data Corp. and Gartner Inc. Li & Fung Ltd. shares turned slightly higher, up 0.2%.
Australia stocks tilted lower early Monday as the Sydney markets reacted to last week's disappointing jobs numbers out of the U.S., with the S&P/ASX 200 down 0.2% at 5,304.40.
Data out Friday showed the U.S. added a net 74,000 jobs, trailing a forecast for 193,000 positions, and while Wall Street ended mixed following the numbers, Australian stocks will global exposure moved lower.
Financial major Macquarie Group Ltd. fell 1.8%, mall developer Westfield Group Australia retreated 0.6%, and media firm News Corp. gave up 1.3%. But the jobs report also depressed the U.S. dollar, which helped boost prices for dollar-denominated commodities, and this in turn supported Australian resource shares.
BHP Billiton Ltd. gained 0.6%, Rio Tinto Ltd. added 0.9%, Alumina Ltd. rallied 4.5%, and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. improved by 1.2%.
Markets in Japan were closed.
CHINA
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index slid 11.17 points, or 0.5%, to 2,193.68
Five more Chinese companies have put off their share sales after the country's securities watchdog strengthened its supervision of the initial public offering market. To meet new rules set by the China Securities Regulatory Commission Sunday, these companies each said in a filing with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange dated Monday that they will postpone the pricing of their IPOs, but didn't give more details.
In other markets;
Korea’s Kospi index gained back 10.38 points, or 0.5%, to 1,948.92
Taiwan’s Taiex Index tallied 36.85 points, or 0.4%, to 8,566.20
The Singapore Straits Times Index docked 5.24 points, or 0.2%, to 3,145.41
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 35.01 points, or 0.7%, to 4,899.40
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 let go of 20.31 points, or 0.4%, to 5,292.08
