Asian stocks mixed on Singapore Q4 growth data

East Asia's main stock indices are mixed following news Singapore's economy expanded by more than anticipated in the final quarter of 2012.

The nation's manufacturing sector is to thank for this boost, which saw the country's gross domestic product increase by 1.5 per cent in the three months to the end of December compared to a year earlier.

On a quarter-by-quarter basis, the economy grew by 3.3 per cent, beating initial forecasts of 1.8 per cent, while year-on-year estimates came in at 1.1 per cent.

According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the manufacturing sector has recovered from its slowdown as a result of the global economic downturn and expanded by an annualised 3.1 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to the previous three-month period.

At close of play this morning, the Nikkei 225 index gained by 0.6 per cent to 11385.9 points, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng and SSE Composite in Shanghai both retreated by 0.2 per cent to 22782.4 points and 2314.1 points respectively.

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