British News Agency

Mainland China’s CSI 300 was trading up 0.7 percent as investors ingested the data. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 1.3 percent in choppy trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 traded 0.4 percent higher, while the broad-based Topix rose 0.3 percent. South Korea’s blue-chip Kospi slipped 0.4 percent, while the small-cap Kosdaq dropped 1.4 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.8 percent.

China’s third-quarter GDP grew 4.6 percent compared to the same period last year, slightly above estimates by economists, but down from 4.7 percent in the previous quarter. The rate was at its lowest since the middle of last year, moving further from Beijing’s 5 percent annual growth target.

Data for September showed that retail sales beat estimates to grow 3.2 percent year over year, while China’s industrial output also grew faster than expected, at 5.4 percent. Meanwhile, China’s house prices fell 5.8 percent year-over-year in September, a larger drop than 5.3 percent in August.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied to a new record close after strong economic data eased lingering fears of a potential recession. The blue-chip index rose 161 points, or 0.37 percent, to 43,239.05.

The S&P 500 closed down 0.02 percent to settle at 5,841.47 after hitting an intraday record earlier in the session. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.04 percent, increasing as chipmakers rallied to end at 18,373.61. All three indexes are tracking for their sixth straight positive week.