Shares in China recovered earlier lost ground on Wednesday to close with a small gain.
A raft of weaker-than-expected data about the state of the mainland’s economy hit values but the Shanghai Composite finished up 0.2% at 3,290.90.
The latest China data showed factory output rising 6.8% year-on-year in January and February, below some expectations for a rise of nearly 8%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed down 0.8% at 23,717.97.
Together with weaker-than-expected retail sales and fixed-asset-investment (FIA) numbers for the beginning of the year, analysts said the figures supported forecasts that China’s economy will see its slowest growth rate in 25 years.
The world’s second-largest economy has set its growth target at about 7% for this year.
The mainland combines its January and February numbers for some industries in order to smooth out the effects of the Chinese New Year holiday period.
Other data showed retail sales rose 10.7% for the period, missing expectations for a rise of close to 12%, while FIA, which is an important driver of the economy, rose 13.9% against expectations for a rise of 15%.
via BBC
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