TOKYO — Asian shares were mostly higher Friday after China reported that its slowing economy showed signs of stabilizing in August.Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 1.0% to 18,219.51 in afternoon trading, while the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.5% at 3,110.22.
Further boosting sentiment, the government reported Friday that China’s industrial output rose 4.5% in August from a year earlier, up from 3.7% in July. That is seen as a sign the economy may be breaking out of its post-pandemic malaise. SoftBank Group Corp., which fully owned chip designer Arm Holdings before it began trading on the Nasdaq on Thursday, rose 2.1% in Tokyo trading.jumped 24.7% in their debut on Nasdaq. The strong welcome could be an encouraging signal for the IPO market, which has slowed since the stock market began tumbling early last year on fears about higher interest rates.