Investing.com - Asian shares rose on Tuesday with economic sentiment upbeat after better-than-expected manufacturing figures from China. though geopolitical tension was stoked over a tweet by President-elect Donald Trump warning North Korea on testing an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Mainland Chinese shares saw the Shanghai composite up 0.15% to start the New Year and the Shenzhen composite rising 0.31%. The Shanghai composite tumbled in 2016, to end the year down 12.3 percent, its worst year since 2011.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was down 0.39 percent. The Hong Kong benchmark had struggled to finish positive, ending last year just up 0.39 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.22% and marjkets in Japan were shut for a holiday.
Investors however did not comments from Trump on the region.
"North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!" Trump then chided China on trade and its diplomatic support to North Korea.
"China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice!"
Earlier, the Caixin manufacturing PMI for December came in at 51.9, well above the expected 50.7 and a jump from 50.9 in November. At the weekend, data showed the official China PMI from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and the National Bureau of Statistics fell to 51.4 in December, slightly weaker than expectations.
"A further rise in production at Chinese manufacturers supported the higher PMI reading in December. Notably, the rate of output growth accelerated to a 71-month high, with a number of panelists commenting on stronger underlying demand and new client wins," the Caixin data statement said.
"Data indicated that improved domestic demand was the key driver of new business growth, however, as new export sales were unchanged in December."
At the end of 2016, U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Technology, Consumer Services and Basic Materials sectors led shares lower. At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.29%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.46%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.90%.
The S&P 500 tallied an annual gain of 9.5 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 13.4 percent for 2016.