Asian stock markets close Tuesday mixed

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Major Asian stock markets closed mixed on Tuesday following China's latest growth figures.

The Chinese economy grew 3% year-on-year in 2022, better than the market forecast, but missed the official target of around 5.5%, the National Bureau of Statistics figures showed on Tuesday.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, the world's second-largest economy grew 2.9% year-on-year, slowing from a 3.9% rise in the third quarter.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, gained 0.28% to 3,450.72 points.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.23% to 26,138.68 points.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, decreased 0.78% to 21,577.64.

China's Shanghai Stock Exchange, meanwhile, fell 0.10% to 3,224.24.

China's industrial output rose 1.3% annually in December 2022, surpassing the market estimate of a 0.2% rise but eased from a 2.2% growth in November 2022.

China's retail trade fell 1.8% from a year earlier in December 2022, softer than a 5.9% drop in the previous month and better than market expectations of an 8.6% decrease.

The industrial capacity utilization rate in China slipped to 75.7% in the fourth quarter of last year from 77.4% a year earlier.

India's Sensex benchmark gained 0.94% to close at 60,655.72, while the Singapore index fell 0.09%, to 3,280.51.