Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region finished mostly in the green on Thursday, despite latest South Korea’s economic growth data came in below market expectations and Japan’s factory activity shrank the most in over three years. Meanwhile, investors await for the ECB monetary policy meeting later in day and a new round of corporate earnings. The Nikkei 225 rose 125 points or 0.6% to 22751; the Hang Seng increased 208 points, or 0.8%, to 26775; the Kospi went up 5 points, or 0.2%, to 2086; and the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 21 points, or 0.3%, to 6694; while the Shanghai Composite index finished near the flat line at 2941.
