Hong Kong, Shanghai Shares Gain On Mainland Data

Hong Kong stocks finished the morning on a high on Monday, extending last week's rally following another record-breaking performance on Wall Street.

The Hang Seng Index added 1.4 percent, to 25,767.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.6 percent to 3,425, while the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.5 percent ,to 2,316.

Investors welcomed news that the country's services sector saw a forecast-beating improvement in August, lifting hopes that crucial domestic consumer spending was picking up. The news offset a slight weakening of factory activity.

"This could be due to the strong demand for cross-provincial leisure trips as families spend summer holidays within mainland China because overseas travel restrictions remain mostly unchanged," said Iris Pang, chief economist for greater China at ING.

Most other Asian markets also rose with Tokyo leading advancers, surging 2 percent after losing more than 1 percent on Friday in reaction to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's resignation.

While the news fanned fears of uncertainty in the country, analysts said no major confusion is expected with reports saying his right-hand man Yoshihide Suga is set to stand as his successor.

Sydney, Singapore and Seoul were also well in the black. Wellington shares were slightly lower, with trading continuing despite further cyberattacks that shut the market down four times last week.

While the foreign-sourced attacks forced operator NZX's website offline, the company said the bourse itself was trading as normal. (AFP)

______________________________