Asia stocks were mostly higher on Tuesday, tracking overnight gains in the U.S., while Shanghai markets slipped as China’s April economic data slightly missed expectations.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index hiked 275.92 points, or 2%, to 14,425.94. The yen weakened against the U.S. dollar, trading at ¥102.298 from ¥102.218 on Monday.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong acquired 90.77 points, or 0.4%, to 22,352.38
Among the major movers in Japan, electronics giant Sharp Corp. jumped 5%, auto maker Nissan Motor climbed 5.1%, and rival Honda Motor advanced 3.5%.
In Hong Kong, leading Chinese property developer Country Garden Holdings shot up 6.5%, rival Poly Property Group pushed 4% higher, and state oil giant PetroChina tacked on 2.8%.
CHINA
China on Tuesday released a set of economic data, including April’s retail sales and industrial output, both of which were slightly below market forecasts.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Composite shaved off 5.2 points, or 0.2%, to 2,174.85
China’s industrial production slowed to 8.7% in April from a year earlier, compared to 8.8% in March, while retail-sales growth also eased to 11.9% from 12.2% in March, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday.
Both data slightly missed forecasts, as markets expected the factory output to expand 8.9% and retail sales to increase 12.2% during the period, according to a Wall Street Journal poll of economists.
Among other data, urban fixed-asset investment rose 17.3% for the first four months of year, down 0.3 percentage points from the January-to-March period.
However, the Australian dollar, which is often sensitive to economic news from China, fell to 93.37 U.S. cents from 93.48 U.S. cents seen ahead of the data release. On Monday, the Aussie was buying 93.59 U.S. cents.
In other markets;
Markets in Singapore were shuttered for a holiday
Taiwan’s Taiex Index took on 9.33 points, or 0.1%, to 8,817.94
Korea’s Kospi index gained 17.99 points, or 0.9%, to 1,982.93
New Zealand NZX 50 index added 36.92 points, or 0.7%, to 5,199.34
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 recovered 49.75 points, or 0.9%, to 5,498.19
