Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Thursday as investors regionally reacted to Chinese trade data for December.
Mainland Chinese stocks declined on the day: The Shanghai composite shed 0.91% to 3,565.90 while the Shenzhen component dropped 1.922% to 15,070.13. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.68%, as of its final hour of trading.
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 in a Reuters poll.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.85% to close at 28,698.26 while the Topix index edged 0.48% higher to finish its trading day at 1,873.28.
South Korea’s Kospi closed slightly higher at 3,149.93. Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.43% on the day to 6,715.30.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed.
