Shares rose Wednesday in Asia after China reported improved exports in December

TOKYO – Shares rose Wednesday in Asia after China reported improved exports in December, though a rally in Shanghai shares was short-lived. Investors also were cheered by gains on Wall Street that snapped a losing streak, including an eight-day slump for the Nasdaq composite.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index jumped 2.9 per cent to 17,715.63 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 2.5 per cent to 20,199.26. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.3 per cent to 1,916.28. The Shanghai Composite yoyo’d in and out of negative territory and by mid-afternoon sank 2.4 per cent to 2,949.60. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.3 per cent to 4,975.60. Shares in New Zealand and Southeast Asia were mostly higher.

CHINA TURMOIL: After a tumultuous start to the year for Chinese stocks and the yuan, both those markets showed tentative stability as the government moved to control fluctuations in the yuan. Global markets were rattled by steep falls in Chinese stocks and a bigger than usual drop in the tightly controlled yuan, gyrations that some analysts see as evidence officials were having difficulty managing the slowdown in the world’s No. 2 economy.

OIL PRICES: Crude oil prices tumbled overnight but bounced higher Wednesday in Asia. While the supply and demand factors that have driven prices nearly 18 per cent lower this year are a concern, and are hurting exporters and energy company shares, lower oil and gas costs are a boon for many resource-scarce Asian economies.

CHINA DATA: China’s exports rose 2.3 per cent in December from a year earlier in yuan terms, reversing a 3.7 per cent drop in November, the Finance Ministry reported Wednesday. Exports were down in dollar terms but the decrease was smaller than November’s. The data suggest a weakening in the yuan may be helping boost demand for Chinese products, providing welcome support for the slowing economy.

THE QUOTE: “Asia markets are starting to sense that a short-term upside move could be on the cards,” Chris Weston of IG said in a commentary. “Good trade data from China has also caused a second wave of buying, so watch copper prices through European trade to give some real backbone to the equity rally.”

WALL STREET: Shares were lower for most of the day but then regained lost ground in the last hour of trading. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 117.65 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 16,516.22. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 15.01 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 1,938.68. The Nasdaq composite climbed 47.93 points, or 1 per cent, to 4,685.92.

ENERGY: U.S. crude oil rose 36 cents, or 1.2 per cent, to $30.80 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, it lost 97 cents, or 3.1 per cent, to $30.44 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, rose 14 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $31.09. It fell 69 cents, or 2.2 per cent, to $30.86 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 118.16 yen from 117.89 yen in the previous trading session. The euro fell to $1.0825 from $1.0834.

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