Asian shares trade higher after Wall Street rise and Japan GDP data show growth

BY YURI KAGEYAMA

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Thursday after the latest update on U.S. inflation came in almost exactly as economists expected, and data on Japan’s economy showed relatively healthy growth.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.8% to finish at 36,726.64. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2% to 7,865.50. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.3% to 17,054.92, while the Shanghai Composite surged 1.0% to 2,877.73. Trading was closed in South Korea for Liberation Day, a national holiday.

Japan’s Cabinet Office data showed the world’s fourth largest economy grew at an annual rate of 3.1% in the April-June period, marking a rebound from the contraction in the previous quarter.

The annual rate shows how much the economy would have grown or contracted, if the quarterly rate had continued for a year.

Domestic demand grew a robust 3.5% from the previous quarter on the back of healthy household consumption