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Asian stocks mixed, China bolstered

Hong Kong - Asian shares were mixed on Monday with China buoyed by recent data indicating its economic recovery, but other markets were unsettled by drops on Wall Street and the bailout of a crisis-hit Portuguese bank.

Traders said the intervention by Portugal's central bank to inject €4.4bn into the crisis-hit Banco Espirito Santo late on Sunday had an impact on markets, as did the Dow's substantial sell-off last week.

Tokyo's Nikkei fell 0.31%, closing at 15 474.50, Sydney dipped 15.5 points to finish at 5 540.9, and Seoul rose 0.35% to end at 2 080.42.

Hong Kong rose 0.28% to close at 24 600.08, while Shanghai jumped 38.03 points, finish at 2 223.33. Shenzhen gained 1.40% to 1 164.32.

"European risk is having an impact on the broader market," Yoshihiro Okumura, general manager of research at Chibagin Asset Management, told Dow Jones Newswires.

In China, heavyweight blue-chip stocks led the gains, after an official survey on Friday showed manufacturing rose at its fastest rate for more than two years in July.

AJ Securities analyst Hou Yingmin told Dow Jones Newswires this was due to a "combination of an economic recovery, ample liquidity and market friendly policies, including Shanghai-Hong Kong stock connect program."

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.42 percent despite a solid US jobs report and generally good corporate earnings.

Investors took a cautious stance after Thursday's rout, which sent the blue-chip index tumbling more than 300 points, giving up all its gains for 2014.

Joshua Mahony, research analyst at Alpari (UK) told Dow Jones Newswires, traders were seeking to "determine whether this is just an anomaly... or a sign of something more significant".

In currency trade, the dollar bought ¥102.66, down from ¥102.93 in Tokyo on Friday,

The euro bought $1.3421 in Asia on Monday, down from $1.3430 in US trade late on Friday, while fetching ¥137.80 against ¥137.75.

On oil markets, the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for September delivery was up 10 cents to $97.98 while Brent crude for September gained 23c to $105.07 in afternoon trade.

Gold fetched $1 294.70 an ounce by 10:00 compared with $1 284.40 on Friday.

In other markets:

- Bangkok added 1.28% to 1 519.38 points, with telecoms company True Corporation soaring 5.38% to 9.80 baht, while Delta Electronics gained 5.71% to 64.75 baht.

- Kuala Lumpur rose 0.67% to 1 875.80 points. Malayan Banking added 1.11% to 9.98 ringgit, Sime Darby rose 0.10% to 9.56 and Telekom Malaysia gained 0.64% to 6.26 ringgit.

- Manila climbed 1.51% to 6 998.37 points. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co gained 1.16% to 3 136 pesos, while SM Investments added 0.89% to 797 pesos.

- Mumbai rose 0.95% to end at 25 723.16 points as Crompton Greaves gained 6.10% to end at 203.40 rupees and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation climbed 5.89% to 426.00 rupees.

- Singapore fell 0.78% to close at 3 318.40 points, with United Overseas Bank declining 1.04% to finish at Sg$22.94 and Singapore Telecom ending 3.49% lower at Sg$3.87.

- Taipei rose 0.69% to 9 330.19 points. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co gained 2.92% to Tw$123.5 while LCY Chemical plunged 7.0% to Tw$21.65.

- Wellington closed down 0.38% at 5 090.69 points. Fletcher Building fell 1.01% to NZ$8.82 and Air New Zealand was off 1.57% at NZ$1.875.

Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this article

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