Asia-Pacific stocks mixed

Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Thursday trade as investors regionally reacted to Chinese trade data for December.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 led gains among the region’s major markets as it rose 1.78% while the Topix index edged 1.11% higher.

Mainland Chinese stocks, on the other hand, declined by the afternoon. The Shanghai composite shed 0.29% while the Shenzhen component dropped 0.819%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.49%.

China’s exports rose 18.1% in December as compared with a year earlier, according to customs data released Thursday. That was higher than expectations for a 15% increase by analysts in a Reuters poll.

Meanwhile, China’s imports grew 6.5% year-on-year in December, as compared with expectations for a 5% rise.

South Korea’s Kospi was 0.16% higher. Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.52%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to close at 3,809.84 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4% to close at 13,128.95. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed just 8.22 points lower at 31,060.47.

Avadoot Shah

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