Stocks in Asia-Pac are mostly higher, for....>

STOCKS: Stocks in Asia-Pac are mostly higher, for several indices it is the

first day of trade after the Christmas break. In Japan the Nikkei 225 is up 23

points at 22914, after opening slightly lower the index has managed to get into

positive territory by the afternoon close. 6/11 sectors are in the green, led

higher by Energy which is up around 1%. Energy stocks are being given a boost by

higher oil which spiked to the highest levels since mid-2015 after alleged

terrorists blew up Libyan pipeline which is expected to reduce output by up to

100k BPD.

- Indices in China are lower, the Shanghai Comp is down 4.5 points at 3301, in

Hong Kong the Hang Seng is down 4 points at 29573. The benchmarks opened higher,

the first rise in 3 days, but weak Industrial Profit data sparked a bout of

profit taking and eroded the gains.

- In Australia the ASX 200 is up 8.5 points at 6077. The index came off highs of

6092 after the weak Chinese data, but the benchmark is being supported by higher

Oil prices as well as strength in Iron Ore and Copper.