Hong Kong, Australia stocks stage rebound

Stocks in Hong Kong and Australia bounced back on Thursday after better-than-expected U.S. economic data spurred gains on Wall Street, while a strengthened yen dragged on Japanese shares.

The Hang Seng Index  climbed 1.8% in Hong Kong and the S&P/ASX 200  advanced 1% in Sydney.

China’s Shanghai Composite  overcame early losses to rebound 1% by the midday break, while South Korea’s Kospi  gained 0.3%. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average  was mildly lower.

Shares of several energy producers advanced as U.S. benchmark crude-oil futures stayed above $101 a barrel on concerns over political turmoil in Egypt, where the military ousted President Mohammed Morsi on Wednesday.

Cnooc Ltd.  jumped 4% in Hong Kong, Inpex Corp.   inched up 0.1% in Tokyo and Woodside Petroleum Ltd.  gained 2.5% in Sydney, recovering some of the losses Wednesday, when it fell after lowering its 2013 production target.

Evolution Mining Ltd. shares climbed 2.4% after the company said its annual gold production rose 13%.

Gains in Hong Kong were also supported by a rebound in financial shares, with heavyweight banks HSBC Holdings PLC and China Construction Bank Corp.  rising 2% and 2.3%, respectively.

But shares of the large Chinese banks were mostly lower in Shanghai. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.  fell 0.5% and Bank of China Ltd.  dropped 0.8%.

Over in Tokyo, many exporters dropped on a firmer yen. Nissan Motor Co. fell 1.9% and Canon Inc.   dropped 0.9%.

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said earlier in the day the local economy was improving and that consumer prices were expected to gradually rise as the effect of the central bank’s quantitative easing took hold.

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