Asian stock markets advanced Tuesday, AP reported. Asian stocks advanced on the heels of two reports, released Monday, that showed China's manufacturing sector improved last month after prolonged weakness. The HSBC purchasing managers' index rose to 50.1 points in August, a level that indicates expansion as output and new orders edged up slightly and order backlogs rose at the fastest pace in two years. The official China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing PMI rose to 51.0 from July's 50.3, which was the highest level and biggest increase this year. Both indexes use a 100-point scale on which numbers below 50 indicate a contraction. Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 3 percent to 13,978.44. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.5 percent to 1,933.74. Australia's S&P ASX/200 added 0.2 percent to 5,196.60. Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 1 percent to 22,394.58, with big paper companies getting a boost after the Chinese government said the paper industry suffered from overcapacity. That is an indication that there will be efforts to eliminate smaller companies in favor of bigger ones, Wong said.
