Asia: Stocks mostly higher as Chinese business sentiment improves
Asian stocks were higher on Wednesday following a weaker yen and an increase in business sentiment in China.
Nikkei 225 was up 0.38%, as the Japanese currency was down 0.68% at 117.3. A weaker yen makes travel, hotels and food more attractive to foreign-currency holders.
Japanese trade data came in worse than expected overnight with annual export growth slowing to just 4.9% in November from 9.6% in October, missing the 7% forecast. Imports unexpectedly declined by 1.7% after a 3.1% rise previously.
Shanghai's benchmark index rose 1.31% driven by an increase in the Chinese business sentiment index to 56.2 In December from 55.2 in the previous month.
However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.37% following news that China will start cracking down on illicit money channelled through casinos in Macau.
The Chinese Ministry of Public Security is preparing to launch the offensive against financial crime and money laundering, the South China Morning Post reported.
Hong Kong stocks were also dragged by weak manufacturing data on Tuesday. HSBC's China manufacturing sector purchasing managers' index (PMI) declined from the break-even point of 50 in November to 49.5 in December, worse than the consensus forecast of 49.8.