Hong Kong stocks climbed on Wednesday to their highest settlement in more than three years, extending a three-day winning streak.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 52.32 points, or 0.4%, to 15,213.63, a third straight winning session. The yen, meanwhile, fell to 102.452, from 102.294 against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong galloped ahead 200.93 points, or 0.8%, to 24,809.34, a closing level it hasn’t seen since November 2010, shrugging off a batch of Chinese economic data that showed a slowing in growth.
Chinese banks advanced across the board, with China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd. rising 1.8%, Bank of Communications Co. adding 1.7%, and China Construction Bank Corp. improving by 0.9%.
However, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., one of Asia’s largest airlines, bucked the market trend with a 1.7% decline, after its interim earnings fell short of market expectations.
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 index poked ahead 1.85 points, or 0.1%, to 2,358.90
China’s industrial production rose by 9% in July, easing from a 9.2% increase in June, while a 12.2% growth in July retail sales also missed expectations from a Bloomberg survey, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.
In other markets;
In Singapore, the Straits Times STI Index docked 1.98 points, or 0.1%, to 3,301.41
In Korea, the Kospi index was up 20.89 points, or 1%, to 2,062.36
The Taiex Index in Taiwan recovered 68.19 points, or 0.7%, to 9,231.31
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 lost 1.10 points to 5,054.70
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 15.61 points, or 0.3%, to 5,514.72
