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Asia stocks gain on China announcements

Tokyo - Asian shares mostly gained on Tuesday after China promoted an array of infrastructure projects as open to private investment and said it was slashing tariffs on imported clothing and other consumer goods. Investors lacked other cues, with markets in London and the US closed for holidays on Monday.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index was nearly flat at 20 416.25 points, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 1.5% to 28 407.72. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.0% to 4 861.86 points; the index is up 140% over the past year. Australia's S&P ASX/200 climbed 0.8% to 5 765.10 points, but South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.2% to 2 141.82 points. Shares in New Zealand rose and Southeast Asian shares were mixed.

China's economic planning agency announced on Monday that it wanted to attract private investment to more than 1 000 local public-private projects for ports and other transport facilities, the environment, and public services. Altogether, the projects could be worth 2trn yuan ($318bn). The government also announced it would halve import taxes on clothing, cosmetics and some other goods by half in a new tactic to spur consumer spending and economic growth.

"Of course we can see the Chinese government is doing many things to stimulate real demand," said Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong. "Some macroeconomic indicators are not doing so well right now, so the market is trading on expectations."

Meanwhile, worries persist that Greece might miss looming IMF repayments if it fails to receive bailout payments from creditors demanding it outline reforms and promise to meet cost-cutting targets. Athens is struggling to achieve greater austerity and clean up its finances without risking a relapse into recession.

In oil markets, the benchmark US oil rose 10 cents to $59.82 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract shed $1 on Friday to $59.72.

The dollar gained to ¥121.79 from Monday's ¥121.55. The euro fell to $1.0939 from $1.0980.

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