Most Asian stocks Thursday climbed as optimism government stimulus efforts will ease the global recession offset political concerns in India and Thailand.
The Nikkei 225 Index inched up 12.30 points, or 0.1% to 8,755.26.
JFE Holdings Inc., Japan’s No. 2 steelmaker, gained 3.1% on speculation the nation’s steel mills may secure lower iron-ore prices and as a Federal Reserve survey signaled that the U.S. slowdown is moderating. NEC Electronics Corp. surged 12% in Tokyo after saying it may merge with Renesas Technology Corp. to create Japan’s biggest chipmaker.
Nippon Steel Corp., Japan’s largest steelmaker, added 1.3% in Tokyo. The country’s steel mills and their suppliers may agree to a cut in iron ore prices of about 30%, according to the Sankei newspaper.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index settled back from Wednesday’s climb, losing 86.63 points, or 0.6% to 15,582.99, after government data showed the Chinese economy grew at the slowest pace in almost 10 years.
Australand Property Group, a unit of Singapore’s CapitaLand Ltd., jumped 7.6% in Sydney after it got approvals from banks to refinance debt. Santen Pharmaceutical Co., a Japanese maker of ophthalmic drugs, surged 11% after licensing sales rights for its glaucoma medication to Merck & Co.
CHINA
China’s economy, battered by collapsing exports, grew at the slowest pace in almost 10 years, probably marking its low point.
Gross domestic product expanded 6.1% in the first quarter from a year earlier, after a 6.8% gain in the previous three months, the statistics bureau said in Beijing.
A 30% surge in urban fixed-asset investment in March and a jump in industrial output, both reported today, added to evidence that the government’s 4-trillion-yuan ($585 billion U.S.) stimulus plan is working.
Elsewhere:
China’s Shanghai 300 Composite Index picked up 0.12 points, to close at 2,687.11, a sixth straight winning session, its highest levels since last August
Singapore’s Straits Times Index slid 14.24 points, or 0.8% to 1,891.75
South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index picked up 3.63 points, or 0.3%, to 1,336.72
Taiwan’s Taiex Index zoomed 121.98 points, or 2.1%, to 5,997.17
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index gained 62.49, or 2.4% to 2,663.14
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 28.20 points, or 0.8% to 3,775.70
