Asian stock markets mixed

Asia-Pacific stock markets were mixed on Thursday as investors digested a raft of economic data. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and Hang Seng Tech Index led the region’s gains, rising 1.79 percent and 3.26 percent respectively in early trading. The Nikkei 225 and Topix fell 0.22 percent and 0.24 percent respectively after the Bank of Japan released a summary of its views from last week’s meeting. The Japanese yen was last at 129.26 against the U.S. dollar. South Korea’s gross domestic product shrank 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter, marking its first contraction in more than two years, while the Kospi rose 0.6 percent and the Kosdaq added 0.94 percent. The Philippines’ gross domestic product rose a strong 7.2 percent in the fourth quarter. Hong Kong is due to release trade data. Singapore is due to release December manufacturing output data later in the day. Markets in China and Australia are closed for holidays. Overnight, stocks in the US fell broadly as technology shares weakened following lacklustre guidance from Microsoft.