Hong Kong--Asian markets mostly rose Thursday, with another weak reading on Chinese manufacturing lifting Hong Kong and Shanghai on hopes for further stimulus while a weaker yen provided a boost to Japanese exporters.
Wall Street pushed higher on the back of strong house sales data, which also supported the dollar, while the euro struggled under worries about Greece's future in the eurozone.
Tokyo climbed 0.34 percent by lunch, Hong Kong added 0.90 percent, Shanghai rose 0.32 percent and Seoul gained 0.55 percent while Sydney was flat.
HSBC said its preliminary purchasing managers index (PMI) of manufacturing activity in China had slipped to a 12-month low in April, the latest data to show the world's number two economy slowing.
The reading of 49.2 is well down from the 49.6 seen in March and well below the 50 break-even point that separates growth from expansion in the sector.
However, the result led Hong Kong and Shanghai shares higher on hopes the Chinese authorities will introduce more monetary easing measures.
Hopes for continued loosening have seen mainland investors pile into equities, doubling Shanghai's value over the past year and now helping Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index to levels not seen since the end of 2007.
"I expect Chinese indices to continue their outperformance in the coming few months," Stan Shamu, a markets strategist in Melbourne at IG Ltd., wrote in an email to clients, according to Bloomberg News.
H-shares are shares of firms incorporated in China that are listed in Hong Kong.
In New York the Dow rose 0.49 percent, the S&P added 0.51 percent and the Nasdaq gained 0.42 percent.
US dealers' confidence was lifted after data showed existing-home sales rebounded in March to the fastest pace in 18 months, pointing to solid spring sales this year.
AFP
