ASIA REPORT: Nikkei: 8,664.66 (+428.79) Hang Seng: 15,046.95 (+288.56) Values at yesterday's close:THE NIKKEI average gained 5.21 per cent, nearly erasing Friday's losses, on fresh hopes for a bailout of the struggling US auto industry, boosting shares of carmakers such as Honda Motors.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Chinese growth could be cut almost in half next year as a global downturn sucks in the biggest emerging economy.
IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a conference that growth in China, the worlds fourth-biggest economy and accustomed to double-digit growth rates, could fall to 5 per cent next year from 9.7 per cent this year.
China said its industrial output grew at the slowest pace since 1999.
Shares in Hong Kong rose 1.96 per cent led by China Mobile on imminent 3G licensing hopes while bulk shippers emulated the global freight index's ascent but the main index closed off early highs. Some banks bucked the broader market's gains.
In Sydney stocks rose 2.31 per cent as global miners such as BHP Billiton jumped on expectations of a rebound in metal prices, but phone company Telstra dived to a two-year low. - (Reuters)
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