Asia report: Hong Kong gains as extradition bill withdrawn
Asian markets were higher on Wednesday as stocks in Hong Kong climbed after the city's chief executive suspended the controversial extradition bill that sparked recent pro-democracy demonstrations.
Carrie Lam said she will withdraw the bill, which would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China, after three months of disruption in the city from large scale protests and calls for her resignation.
Oanda market analyst Edward Moya said protests were "likely to continue until we see the other four demands met; Beijing accepting of Lam’s resignation, an inquiry into police brutality, the release for those who have been arrested and more democratic freedoms".
"Today’s withdrawal is quite the pivot from yesterday’s comments from China’s top office that hinted they could unilaterally declare a state of an emergency."
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.12% at 20,649.14 at the close of trading after gains from Fast Retailing and Nintendo, which rose by 0.87% and 2.59% respectively.
The Japanese yen fell by 0.27% against the US dollar to JPY106.23.
China's Shanghai Composite finished the day 0.93% higher at 2,957.41, while the tech-heavy Shenzhen Composite was up 0.67% at 1,636.40 as service sector activity data from August climbed to a three-month high, sending Ningxia Jiaze Renewables Corp, Beijing United Information Technology and Wingtech Technology 10% higher.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index leapt 3.90% higher to 26,523.23 as stocks that have been under the cosh due to protests leapt on the news of the extradition bill's suspension, with railway operator MTR rising by 6.40% and Cathay Pacific Airways jumping by 7.21%.
The South Korean Kospi followed the Chinese indices higher as it climbed by 1.16% to 1,988.53 on the back of the strong Chinese data, with Samsung Electronics jumping by almost 2%.
Brent Crude was 0.43% higher at $58.51, while West Texas Intermediate climbed by 0.70% to $54.32
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 bucked the trend as it dropped by 0.31% to 6,553.01 as Beach Energy dropped by 1.65% and healthcare stocks were a drag on the index.
New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 was up 0.50% at 11,008.13, climbing above 11,000 for the first time as software companies Pushpay and Vista both rose by more than 5% as they bounced back from recent sell-offs.
Finally, the Australian dollar was 0.40% higher against the US dollar at A$1.47, while New Zealand's dollar was up 0.35% at NZ$1.57.