SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mostly higher as investors watched China’s August economic data released on Tuesday morning.
Mainland Chinese stocks edged higher, with the Shanghai composite above the flatline while the Shenzhen component advanced 0.23%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.47%.
South Korea’s Kospi was 0.48% higher.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was fractionally higher. The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday released minutes from its September meeting, where members noted that “the downturn had not been as severe as earlier expected and a recovery was under way in most of Australia.”
Following the release of the minutes, the Australian dollar traded at $0.7307, as compared to an earlier low of $0.7265.
Japanese stocks lagged, as the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.56% while the Topix index shed 0.68%.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.38% higher.
China’s retail sales rise for first time this year
Retail sales in China rose 0.5% in August from a year ago — the first positive report for the year so far — according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics.
Still, retail sales for the first eight months of the year were down 8.6% from a year ago, the bureau said.
Meanwhile, industrial production in the country grew 5.6% in August from a year ago while fixed-asset investment declined 0.3% for the first eight months of the year.
The onshore Chinese yuan strengthened to 6.7918 per dollar following the release of those data, as compared to an earlier low of 6.808 against the greenback. Its offshore counterpart traded at 6.7891 per dollar.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.972 after an earlier high of 93.1.
The Japanese yen changed hands at 105.64 per dollar after strengthening sharply yesterday from levels above 105.9 against the greenback.
Oil prices were higher in the morning of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures hovering above the flatline as it traded at $39.62 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also saw fractional gains at $37.28 per barrel.
— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.
Source: CNBC