HONG KONG Asia markets posted healthy gains in Friday trade after official data in China show ed the coronavirus pandemic had not hit economic growth as badly as some had feared. Authorities closed factories, halted construction work and imposed drastic lockdowns among other efforts to contain the outbreak after it emerged in the central industrial city of Wuhan late last year. Life in China has since gradually begun returning to normal after the quarantine measures choked the world’s second-largest economy. Official data showed a 6.8-percent contraction last quarter — the first negative growth reported since the country began logging quarterly data in the early 1990s. The result was slightly better than the 8.2-percent fall forecast by economists in an AFP poll, though analysts in China and abroad have long harboured doubts about the accuracy of official GDP data. Other figures showed a sharp drop in domestic demand, with many shoppers staying at home and avoiding crowds due to fears of a resurgence in virus cases. But on-year industrial production data, down just 1.1 percent last month, was a positive sign that the Chinese economy was returning to a position of strength, said AxiCorp chief market strategist Stephen Innes. “The production side of the economy is normalising, and end-consumption will follow,” he said in a note. Hong Kong and Tokyo were all up by more than two percent in morning trade, while Shanghai was 0.7 percent higher and all other major Asian bourses were in positive territory.—AFP
