By Laura He and Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- 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.
Japanese stocks led regional gains, with the Nikkei Average
closing up 2%, and the Topix index finishing 1.8% higher. The yen
(USDJPY) weakened against the dollar, trading at Yen102.298 from
Yen102.218 on Monday. Australia's S&P/ASX200 ended up 0.9%, and
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index logged a gain of 0.4% at the close.
However, the Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.1%.
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. (Read more in the Asia Stocks live
blog:
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2014/05/12/asia-stocks-live-blog-rallying-into-china-data/?mod=MW_story_latest_news.)
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 factory output, retail sales below forecasts
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 (FAI) rose 17.3%
for the first four months of year, down 0.3 percentage points from
the January-to-March period.
In a Tuesday note ahead of the data release, analysts from
Credit Agricole said the results might confirm softness in the
Chinese economy, as government stimulus measures announced earlier
this year need time to show up in hard data.
The Chinese markets showed little reaction immediately after the
release. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index held its 0.3% gain, while the
Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3%.
However, the Australian dollar (AUDUSD) , 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 India, the benchmark Sensex index hit a record high in early
trading after major exit polls Monday evening indicated Narendra
Modi -- considered a business-friendly candidate -- would win the
general election and become India's next prime minister.
Comments on China
In some fresh commentary out today, MarketWatch looks at whether
Hong Kong is turning into a mini-Shanghai, and just how serious the
Chinese Communist Party is about reform.
In his weekly column, Craig Stephen looks at some recent
regulatory moves in Hong Kong and wonders if the city is set to
exchange its traditional "tycoon crony capitalism" model for a
mainland Chinese "state-run monopoly" system.
Then, Satyajit Das writes that China's ruling party is standing
in the way of its own reform efforts. Das points to "increasing
repression and intolerance" as evidence that change in China will
be a long process.
More MarketWatch news:
Asia Stocks blog: Rallying into China data
China's capital-market reform: What it means
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