Asian shares rise on China economic data

HONG KONG—Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, taking a lead from European markets, which started 2012 in positive territory, and after China announced better-than-expected manufacturing data.

Australian shares closed up 1.1 percent, or 44.6 points, at 4,101.20, Seoul added 2.69 percent, or 49.04 points, to end at 1,875.41, while Hong Kong ended 2.4 percent higher, or 443.02 points, at 18,877.41.

Financial markets in mainland China, Japan and Thailand were closed for public holidays.

“We are starting the new year on a positive note and data such as better than expected PMI [purchasing managers index] out of China over the weekend will help to give investors new confidence,” said Jason Hughes, head of premium client management at IG Markets.

“However, the major issues of 2011 still have to be resolved with meaningful solutions required from Europe – until this is finally put to bed we are likely to have an amount of uncertainty remaining around global markets.”

China’s manufacturing unexpectedly rebounded in December on holiday shopping, as the world’s No. 2 economy showed some resilience despite strife in key export markets.

The purchasing managers index reached 50.3 in December, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in a statement Sunday.

A reading above 50 indicates the sector is expanding.

“This is quite encouraging because China and India’s upbeat manufacturing indicators for December suggest Europe’s debt problems haven’t had a big negative effect on Asian exports and doomsday scenarios have not yet materialized,” Lim Hosang, an economist at Samsung Futures in Seoul, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Meanwhile, European shares closed higher Monday after figures showed private consumption in Germany was at its strongest level for more than a decade in 2011, despite the ongoing eurozone crisis.

Separately, official data showed the number of people in work hit a record 41.04 million, with more than half a million jobs created last year.

Positive US economic data last week, including rising home sales, also helped buoy markets as investors look for signs of resurgence in the world’s biggest economy.

In early trade on Tuesday, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 1.84 percent, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 added 0.80 percent and the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.28 percent.

However, the eurozone’s still-unresolved fiscal woes continue to weigh on investor sentiment with observers saying the debt crisis would loom over markets into 2012.

Spain, one of several eurozone economies struggling to keep its massive debt under control, last week announced 8.9 billion euros in budget cuts and higher taxes as it moves to curb a bigger-than-expected public deficit.

On currency markets, the euro rose to $1.3039 from $1.2983, while the dollar was trading at 76.70 yen.

The European unit was changing hands at 100.010 yen.

New York’s main contract light sweet crude for February delivery, known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), advanced $1.90 to $100.73 per barrel.

Gold stood at $1,590.00 an ounce at 1105 GMT.

In other markets:

— Taiwan’s weighted index rose 1.46 percent, or 101.17 points, at 7,053.38.

Leading IC design house MediaTek was 2.56 percent higher at Tw$280.0 while smartphone maker HTC gained 3.14 percent at Tw$492.5.

— Singapore shares closed up 1.59 percent, or 42.01 points, to 2,688.36.

DBS Group was up 1.56 percent to 11.70 and CapitaLand gained 2.26 percent to 2.26.

— Kuala Lumpur shares slipped 1.12 percent, or 17.19 points, to close at 1,513.54.

Malaysia’s largest bank in terms of assets Maybank slipped 2.8 percent at 8.34 ringgit as CIMB bank fell 2.7 percent at 7.24 while logistics giant MISC rose 2.4 percent at 5.60 ringgit.

— Mumbai jumped 2.72 percent or 421.44 points, to close at 15,939.36.

— Philippine shares closed 0.57 percent higher, or 25.14 points, at 4,422.22.

Digital Telecommunications Philippines gained 0.62 percent to 1.61 pesos while Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. added 0.46 percent to 2,580 pesos.

— Indonesian shares rose 1.3 percent, or 48.74 points, to 3,857.88.

Car maker Astra International gained 1.8 percent to Rp 75,000, while the country’s largest lender by assets, Bank Mandiri rose 1.5 percent to close at Rp 6,800 and coal producer Bumi Resources jumped 3.4 percent to Rp 2,275.

New York’s main contract light sweet crude for February delivery, known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), advanced $1.90 to $100.73 per barrel.