HONG KONG (AP) -- Most Asian stock markets were modestly higher Thursday, as gains on Wall Street offset alarming new signs the region's economies were slowing faster than expected amid plummeting demand for their goods।
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average was up 71।36 points, or 0.9 percent, at 7,965.04 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.7 percent to 12,799.76. South Korea's Kospi added 1.3 percent to 1,117.74 while markets in Australia, Singapore and mainland China also gained.
Despite the modest rises, trade was cautious as investors digested a round of bleak reports about some of the region's biggest economies।
China's economic slump deepened in the fourth quarter, with growth sliding to 6।8 percent from 9 percent the previous quarter and 10.6 percent in the first quarter.
In Japan, exports plunged 35 percent in December, marking a third straight month of decline, the government reported। South Korea's economy shrank in the fourth quarter, contracting from the previous year for the first time in a decade.
The data, worse than many expectations, together highlighted the damage being inflicted on Asia as demand for cars, electronics, clothes and other goods evaporates in the U।S. and Europe.
"Clearly our region is really plunging into a steep recession," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist for SJS Markets in Hong Kong। "We are going through a big slowdown."
Still, sentiment was buoyed by overnight gains on Wall Street। Investors seemed relieved by a recovery in banking stocks, stronger-than-expected results from IBM Corp. and renewed focus on the Obama administration's upcoming measures to boost the world's largest economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 279।01, or 3.5 percent, to 8,228.10.
Broader stock indicators also advanced, with the Standard & Poor's 500 index up 35।02, or 4.4 percent, to 840.24.
Wall Street futures were slightly higher, pointing to opening gains in U।S. trade Thursday.
Oil prices, which have moved in tandem with equities in recent months, rose further in Asian trade, with light, sweet crude for March delivery up 55 cents at $44।10 a barrel. The contract jumped $2.71 overnight to settle at $43.55 a barrel on the New York Stock Exchange.
In currencies, the dollar weakened to 89.03 yen, down from 90.03 yen, and the euro was nearly flat at $1.3005.
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