HONG KONG - Tokyo stocks jumped to a seven-month high as Asian markets mostly rose on Thursday, but persistent concerns about expected economic tightening by China weighed on Shanghai shares.
Tokyo's Nikkei index ended the session up 0.52 per cent, or 53.55 points, at 10,285.88, its highest since May, while Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.88 per cent, or 41.4 points, to 4,741.3.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed up 0.34 per cent, or 79.28 points, at 23,171.80, but the Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.32 per cent, or 37.60 points, to 2,810.95.
Tokyo's rise was led by banks and insurers, boosted by a surge in financial stocks on Wall Street.
Spirits were also lifted by news that Japan's economy grew by more than previously thought in the third quarter due to capital spending by companies, with year-on-year growth revised up to 4.5 per cent, although there was caution about the fourth quarter.
Japanese stocks, particularly exporters, were helped by a relatively weak yen, although the dollar was slightly off from earlier highs.
"Investors are mainly hunting for laggard shares," Yutaka Yoshii, general manager at Mito Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
The euro bought 1.3311 dollars in European early trade however, from 1.3259 dollars in New York late Wednesday, and 111.55 yen from 111.43 yen.
The dollar fell slightly to 83.78 yen from 84.03 yen.
Sydney enjoyed a boost as data showed unemployment eased to 5.2 per cent in November from 5.4 per cent in October. Underpinning this was an unexpected surge in full-time employment that took the total number of people in work to 11.417 million.
"It's quite positive for the share market," said Anthony Anderson, a senior trader at MF Global. "If there's still some strength in employment, I think that's a good sign for equities."
Chinese shares slid on investor caution ahead of November inflation data due on Saturday, amid expectations of an interest rate hike or other measures to damp down the mainland economy.
Rate hike anticipation has grown since October's consumer price index showed a 4.4 per cent year-on-year rise in prices, well above Beijing's three per cent comfort zone, particularly as food prices have surged.
In Shanghai, falls were led by property developers such as China Vanke and Poly Real Estate.
"The rate hike overhang may continue to drag China stocks until a move is confirmed by the People's Bank of China," said Haitong Securities.
Stocks closed modestly higher on Wall Street Wednesday - defying a big fall in bond prices - as traders awaited the conclusion of a tax-cuts deal between President Barack Obama and Republican foes in Congress.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.12 per cent, the broader S&P 500 index gained 0.37 per cent and the tech-rich Nasdaq climbed 0.41 per cent.
On oil markets, freezing temperatures in Europe helped push prices above 89 dollars, with sharp US crude inventory falls providing further cheer.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, was up 74 cents at 89.02 dollars a barrel in the afternoon and Brent North Sea crude for January climbed 54 cents to 91.31 dollars.
Gold closed at 1,388.00-1,389.00 US dollars an ounce in Hong Kong, down from Wednesday's close of 1,392.00-1,393.00.
In other markets:
- Manila fell 0.28 per cent, or 11.67 points, to 4,209.42.
Top-traded Aboitiz Power dropped 3.10 per cent to 32.80 pesos, while Energy Development eased 0.16 per cent to 6.05 pesos.
Conglomerate Ayala Corp. rose 4.10 per cent to 406 pesos and Philippine Long Distance Telephone gained 0.42 per cent to 2,414 pesos.
- Wellington fell 0.42 per cent, or 13.78 points, to 3,280.56.
The market was hit after the central bank left interest rates on hold at 3.0 per cent and delivered a downbeat assessment of the economy.
Air New Zealand fell 0.7 per cent to 1.41 New Zealand dollars and Fletcher Building slipped 0.8 per cent to 7.82, while retailer The Warehouse Group rose 0.26 per cent to 3.80.
- Taipei rose 0.58 per cent, or 50.05 points, to 8,753.84.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co rose 2.94 per cent to 70.0 Taiwan dollars, while Quanta Computer gained 4.1 per cent to 63.5.
- Seoul rose 1.70 per cent, or 33.24 points, to 1,988.96.
- Jakarta rose 0.43 per cent, or 16.10 points, to 3,786.10.
CIMB Bank Niaga jumped 8.4 per cent to 2,575 rupiah while Bumi Resources Minerals, a unit of giant coal miner Bumi Resources, gained 10 per cent to 700 rupiah on its debut.
- Kuala Lumpur rose 0.74 per cent, or 11.23 points, to 1,521.29.
Builder SP Setia gained 4.1 per cent to 5.58 ringgit, UEM Land added 6.2 per cent to 2.58 and Sunrise rose 9.6 per cent to 3.30, while budget carrier AirAsia eased 1.5 per cent to 2.68.
- Singapore rose 0.23 per cent, or 7.40 points, to 3,210.20.
City Developments rose 3.02 per cent to 12.96, while banking house DBS Group gained 0.14 per cent to 14.06.
- Bangkok gained 1.05 per cent, or 10.77 points, to 1,035.85.
Banpu added 8.00 baht to 804.00 baht, while Siam Cement gained 8.00 baht to 346.00.
- Mumbai fell 2.31, or 454.12 points, to 19,242.36.
Mobile phone firm Reliance Communications fell 5.78 per cent to 122.35 rupees while ICICI Bank fell 4.79 per cent to 1,053 rupees.
