Asia Wednesday: Hong Kong, China Gain; Japan Sees Red

Shanghai and Hong Kong were up strongly Wednesday, while Japan saw red.

Nikkei -1.17%. NTT DoCoMo (DCM) gained 1.7% after the Wall Street Journal said Tuesday it is Apple's (AAPL) number-one choice as Japanese iPhone carrier (DoCoMo, Softbank Potential Japan Carriers for Apple's iPhone - WSJ).

Hang Seng +1.11%. China Unicom (CHU) gained 6.3%. China Netcom (CN) was up 3.2%. CNOOC (CEO) gained 3.5%.

Shanghai Composite +2.18%.

"The market just lacks the energy," analyst Shigemi Nonaka said of Japan's drop. "The market was mostly moved by short-term dealings. There is not much reason to sell, but not much to buy either."

"We can see the turnover is shrinking, so even though the market rebounded, the upward momentum isn't so great," strategist Linus Yip said of the Hang Seng. He noted a year-end rally was unlikely now.

Sources: Reuters I, II

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