Market Update
Shares in Asia ended mostly higher, following a firm close on Wall Street overnight, but Chinese equities were soft after data indicated the Asian behemoth was slowing down.
At close, Japan's Nikkei and India's Sensex rose 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively, while mainland China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.2% each. Australia's ASX surged 1.1%.
In China and Hong Kong, inflation appeared to be slowing down but a drop in industrial data showed the economy to be slowing down. A weak yen boosted Japanese exporters.
Stocks on the Move
In Tokyo, automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan climbed 0.6% to 2.2% amid reports production, after being hit by March's devastating earthquake, would normalize soon.
Shares in NEC jumped 4.7% amid expectations the worst may be over for the firm. The stock has corrected over 25% in the past three months.
In the mainland, gains in property shares failed to offset weakness in resource and aviation stocks. Poly Real Estate rose 0.9%, while Jiangxi Copper and China Coal Energy Company lost 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively.
Indian stocks trade close to that flat line but managed to close broadly higher. Shares in State Bank of India gained 1.8% ahead of its quarterly earnings declaration next week.
In Sydney, gains in mining stocks boosted the index: BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto climbed 1.7% and 2.3%.