Asian stocks gain after Chinese assurances over slowdown

Asian markets were mostly higher Monday as Chinese benchmarks rallied after officials put a positive spin on the country's slowing economy.

The Shanghai Composite index jumped 4.2 per cent to 2,656.87 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong surged 2.4 per cent to 267,178.16.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index reversed early losses, gaining 0.6 per cent to 22,659.52 and the Kospi in South Korea added 0.3 per cent to 2,162.01.

Australia's S&P-ASX 200 countered the trend, shedding 0.5 per cent to 5,912.00.

Shares rose in Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Better-than-expected earnings reports by companies such as Procter & Gamble, American Express and PayPal gave US indexes an early lift on Friday.

But the momentum was lost when data showed that US home sales fell for the sixth month in a row.

The S&P 500 index was less than 0.1 per cent lower at 2,767.78.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.3 per cent higher at 25,444.34, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5 per cent to 7,449.03.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks tumbled 1.2 per cent to 1,542.04, its lowest in almost six months, partly because of worries over rising interest rates.

The Chinese economy grew at a 6.5 per cent annual pace, its slowest since 2009 in the quarter ending in September, official data showed.

Officials quickly moved to calm nerves surrounding growth that has been softening even before Washington raised tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese goods.

The Chinese stock market has sagged 30 per cent since January.

China's economic czar, Vice Premier Liu He, said the decline was "creating good investment opportunities" and central bank governor Yi Gang insisted that the "current economic fundamentals are good."