Asia stocks rise on positive US factory report

BANGKOK — Asian stocks rose Tuesday, lifted by a positive report on US manufacturing, but shares in Japan sank as a strengthening yen hurt the country’s powerhouse export sector.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5 percent to 20,634.58, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.9 percent to 2,047.14 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3 percent to 4,343.20.

But Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.4 percent to 10,068.19, as a strengthening yen threatened to cut into the profits of exporters that depend heavily on overseas sales.

Mainland China markets are closed for public holidays.

On Monday, the US Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said that its index of manufacturing activity rose to 53.4 in March from 52.4 in February.

Wall Street rose after the report was released. The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.4 percent to close at 13,264.49. It hasn’t closed that high since the last day of 2007. The S&P 500 closed up 0.8 percent at 1,419.04. That was its highest close since May 19, 2008.

The Nasdaq composite average gained 0.9 percent to 3,119.70.

The US report offset signs of weakness in China’s services sector.

The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said Tuesday that the non-manufacturing sector’s Purchasing Managers Index rose 9.6 points from February to 58 points for March. Readings above 50 indicate an industry is expanding.

But Dariusz Kowalczyk of Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said the result was below expectations and points to a cooling off in the services sector. The index typically rises strongly in March after
Chinese New Year holidays.

Benchmark oil for May delivery was down 23 cents to $105 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose by $2.21 to $105.23 per barrel on the Nymex on Monday, its biggest gain since February 21.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.3344 from $1.3332 late Monday in New York. The dollar fell to 81.88 yen from 82.18 yen.