Asia stocks edge higher as Greek concerns linger; Nikkei up 0.95%

Investing.com - Asian stock markets edged higher on Wednesday, recovering from early losses with shares in Japan outperforming as the yen weakened to a six-month low against the U.S. dollar, boosting exporters.

During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index eased up 0.25%, Australia’s ASX/200 Index added 0.05%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.95%.

Asian equities were lower after the open as uncertainty remained over Greece’s ability to implement strict austerity measures in compliance with its new bailout deal.

Markets largely showed a muted reaction to the release of a preliminary estimate of HSBC’s China manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, which showed an improvement from January but remained in contractionary territory for the fourth consecutive month.

Shares in Hong Kong shook off earlier weakness to edge modestly higher amid speculation China planned to introduce further easing measures.

Property developers performed strongly after Chinese media reported that Shanghai could ease some home purchase restrictions. Agile Property Holdings soared 7.8%, Evergrande Real Estate Group jumped 4.1%, while shares in China Overseas Land & Investment rose 3.3%.

The biggest gainer on the index was Alibaba.com Limited, which soared 42.7%, as it resumed trading for the first time since February 9, after its parent company Alibaba Group Holding bid as much as HKD19.6 billion to buy out minority shareholders and take the company private.

But weakness in Hong Kong-based capped any significant gains. Shares in Esprit Holdings dropped 2.4%, Li & Fung shares retreated 3.3%, while computer-maker Lenovo Group slumped 1.8%.

Elsewhere, the Nikkei closed above the 9,500-level for the first time since August on the back of a broadly weaker yen.

Japanese exporters led gains, boosted by the outlook for export earnings. Consumer electronics giant Sony rose 1.5%, while automakers Toyota and Nissan added 1.8% and 2.2% respectively.

Japan’s largest mobile-phone operator by market value NTT DoCoMo gained 2.05% on a report that it expanded capacity to prevent service glitches.

Looking ahead, the outlook for European stock markets was mildly upbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a gain of 0.1%, France’s CAC 40 futures added 0.1%, London’s FTSE 100 futures eased up 0.1%, while Germany's DAX futures pointed to a 0.15% gain.

Later in the day, the euro zone was to release preliminary data on manufacturing and service sector activity, followed by official data on industrial new orders.

In the U.S., industry data was to be released on existing home sales as well as official data on crude oil stockpiles.