Asian markets rise on manufacturing data

HONG KONG—Asian markets rose on Thursday as upbeat manufacturing data from across the globe lifted spirits, while traders were also confident Greece would soon reach a deal with creditors to slash its debt.

With China and India on Wednesday posting strong growth in manufacturing last month, and Europe and the United States following suit, analysts said there was some hope that a recovery could be back on track.

Tokyo gained 0.76 percent, or 67.03 points, to close at 8,876.82, Sydney added 1.0 percent, or 42.1 points, to 4,267.8 and Seoul was 1.26 percent higher, putting on 25.06 points to 1,984.30.

Hong Kong advanced 2.00 percent, or 406.08 points, to 20,739.45 and Shanghai climbed 1.96 percent, or 44.18 points, to 2,312.56.

On Wednesday, China, the world’s No. 1 exporter, reported a second month of expansion. The official purchasing managers index (PMI) rose to 50.5 in January from 50.3 in December, after contracting for the first time in 33 months in November, when the PMI stood at 49.

A reading above 50 indicates the sector is expanding while a reading below 50 suggests a contraction.

New Delhi then said its manufacturing sector saw the strongest growth for eight months, with the HSBC PMI rising to 57.5 in January from December’s 54.2.

And while activity continued to shrink in Taiwan and South Korea the rate was less severe.

Later in the day signs of recovery in German manufacturing brought encouragement to the eurozone. The region’s seasonally adjusted PMI by London-based Markit rose for the second month running in January.

The index hit a five-month high of 48.8, still a contraction but higher than estimated, thanks to Germany’s climb to 51.0 and neighboring Austria rising even higher. Rates of contraction also eased in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, Markit said.

And in the United States, the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index rose to 54.1 from 53.1 in December.

It also showed that raw materials’ prices were on the march, the sub-index rising to 55.5 from 47.5 in November, when prices were declining.

Separately, the Commerce Department said US construction spending picked up 1.5 percent month on month in December and was 4.3 percent higher than a year earlier.

“We’re seeing a lot of signs of stability in world growth in the manufacturing data,” RBS Morgans’ principal investment adviser Christopher Macdonald told Dow Jones Newswires.

“We’ve got an easing bias in the major economies and the (Federal Reserve) is priming the market for (a third round of monetary easing).

“Europe has made further steps toward a fiscal accord and a private-sector bond deal with Greece is imminent.”

The euro bought $1.3145 and 100.09 yen in European trade, compared with $1.3161 and 100.31 yen in New York late Wednesday.

The common currency managed to hold up after being given a little support by comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said at the start of a visit to China that the unit had “made Europe stronger.”

The dollar was at 76.13 yen against 76.21 yen in New York.

Investors continued to buy the yen despite Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi repeating a warning of possible yen-selling intervention.

“I am calmly watching the market now, but I can’t overlook any acceleration in moves by short-term speculators” in the currency market, he said.

“As I have been saying, I will take decisive steps if deemed necessary.”

The dollar was last below 76.00 yen in late October, when Japan stepped into markets to curb the yen’s historic rise and try to protect exports.

In Europe, Greek officials remained locked in negotiations with creditors on cutting Athens’ debt by at least half as it struggles to meet strict rules on accessing a second bailout.

The country’s leaders have expressed confidence they will have an agreement by the end of the week.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, trading of 241 companies including Sony, Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric was suspended owing to a system malfunction and did not begin for the day until the normal afternoon session got under way at 0330 GMT.

Europe’s main stock markets held firm in early trade Thursday, with London’s FTSE 100 index gaining a marginal 0.05 percent, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 up 0.35 percent and the Paris CAC 40 advancing 0.57 percent.

On oil markets, New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in March, lost 65 cents to $96.99 per barrel while Brent North Sea crude for March delivery added 62 cents to $112.82.

Gold was at $1,747.17 an ounce at 1100 GMT, against $1,745.10 in New York late Wednesday.

In other markets:

— Taipei rose 1.37 percent, or 103.25 points, to 7,652.46.

China Steel was 0.82 percent higher at Tw$29.3 while TSMC fell 0.26 percent to Tw$76.8.

— Manila surged 2.26 percent, or 106.44 points, to 4,822.08.

— Bangkok rose 0.49 percent, or 5.31 points, to 1,091.67.

Banpu gained 1.35 percent to 600 baht, while Siam Cement added 1.17 percent to 346 baht.

— Singapore shares closed down 0.13 percent, or 3.72 points, at 2,901.04.

Real estate developer CapitaLand was down 0.38 percent to Sg$2.63 while Singtel gained 0.64 percent to Sg$3.13.

— Indonesian shares rose 1.3 percent, or 51.93 points, at 4,016.90.

State-owned telecom Telekomunikasi Indonesia rose 2.2 percent to 6,900 rupiah, while state-miner Timah gained 1.6 percent to 1,900 rupiah.

— Kuala Lumpur closed up 1.04 percent, or 15.8 points, at 1,537.09.

Logistics firm MMC Corp. climbed 5.0 percent at 2.94 ringgit while construction giant Gamuda rose 0.5 percent at 3.72 ringgit.

— Indian shares rose 0.76 percent, or 131.27 points, to 17,431.85.

Bharti Airtel rose 6.88 percent to 385.95 rupees, while Unitech fell 7.04 percent to 25.10 rupees.

— Wellington gained 0.39 percent, or 12.85 points, to 3,314.64.

Telecom Corp. rose 0.23 percent to NZ$2.16 and Fletcher Building closed down 0.16 percent at NZ$6.43.