source from：WSJ
MARKETS  ASIA STOCKS
Asia Shares Up, Led by Japan and Hong Kong
Tokyo’s Nikkei jumps on earnings, Hong Kong investors reverse course on negative bets following latest China economic data




By CHAO DENG
May 16, 2016 12:32 a.m. ET
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Stocks in Hong Kong rose sharply to lead gains in most of Asia on Monday, as investors reversed course on negative bets following the latest economic data out of China.


The Hang Seng Index was last up 1.2%, having gained throughout the morning. In China, stocks recovered from earlier losses, to last trade up 0.2%.


Elsewhere, the Nikkei Stock Average jumped 1%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.7% and Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.1%.


“The Hong Kong market has been doing very badly over the past two weeks,” but after the release of Chinese data from the weekend, the consensus by investors is that the previous sell-down had priced in worries about the Chinese economy, said Margaret Yang, market analyst with CMC Markets in Singapore.


Before Monday, the Hang Seng Index had been going lower for three straight weeks, losing 8.1% in that period. The benchmark is down about 9% since the beginning of the year.


In addition, Ms. Yang said that a stronger-than-expected monthly reading on U.S. retail sales Friday as well as a positive consumer sentiment survey from the U.S. “has spread favorable sentiment over to [the] Asian market.”


Consumer stocks jumped 3.6% in Hong Kong, with names like China Mengniu Dairy Co. and Want Wang China Holdings Ltd. popping up 2.9% and 5.2% respectively.


It was a different story on the Chinese data front: Figures from the weekend showed industrial output in China rising 6.0% in April year over year, compared with 6.8% growth in March. That missed expectations for 6.6% growth, according to a survey by The Wall Street Journal. Banks lent a less-than-expected 555.6 billion yuan in April, down from 1.37 trillion yuan in March.


The latest readings on fixed-asset investment also missed expectations.


The Chinese yuan made new lows in the offshore market, where it trades freely. The offshore yuan was last flat against the U.S. dollar, but earlier reached 6.5594 to the greenback, a level not seen since early February.


Onshore, where the yuan trades within a band of where authorities guide it, the currency was at 6.5269 to one U.S. dollar. The latter tends to follow a daily “fix” by the central bank, which on Monday guided the currency significantly weaker for the second straight session.


In Japan, several solid earnings gave stocks fuel to go higher.


Shiseido Co. Ltd. shares surged 7.4% after the company posted solid earnings results for the first quarter, helped by increasing Chinese demand. Sumitomo Electric was up 14% after the company projected strong earnings views for the fiscal year started in April and announced a share buyback plan.


The Japanese market was also gaining amid speculation ahead of a meeting between world leaders. The Group of Seven meeting kicks off in Japan in coming days, and many analysts expect that the Japanese government could soon announce fresh fiscal measures, including a delay of a planned sales tax increase.


—Kosaku Narioka contributed to this article.