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Hong Kong shares post best performance in five weeks

Going forward, Beijing’s anti-corruption campaign and a weaker yuan has curbed Chinese spending while a volatile stock market has hurt retailers.

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Asian stocks struggled for direction on Thursday as investors stayed on the sidelines as they mulled regional economic data and awaited the latest Fed remarks while slumping oil prices weighed on sentiment.

The Dow Jones industrial average gave up 145 points, or 0.8 percent, to 17,552 as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time.

The Hang Seng Index rose 2.4 percent, to 22,888.92, its best day since early October, while the China Enterprises Index gained 1.6 percent, to 10,408.93 points.

In Shenzhen, BOE Technology, down 1.9 percent to 3.06 yuan; Tongling NFM, down 4.2 percent to 3.89 yuan and Yotrio Group, up 3.7 percent to 8.79 yuan were among the most actively traded.

The price of oil shed 2 percent to $42 a barrel in NY.

ENERGY: US benchmark crude futures recovered from a big drop, rising 22 cents to $43.15 in electronic trading on the NY Mercantile Exchange. Horizon said it is questioning its relationship with Express Scripts, which is suing Horizon and took a pharmacy that dispenses Horizon’s drugs out of its network. Horizon shares have lost about half their value since the end of July.

METALS: The price of gold declined $3.60 to $1,084.90 an ounce. Macy’s stock plunged $6.32, or 13.5 per cent, to $40.71. Copper was little changed at $2.218 a pound.

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EURO PRESSURED: The euro was under pressure in light of the dichotomy between the central banks in Europe and the U.S. Europe’s single currency was 0.5 percent lower at $1.0713. USA bond trading was closed for Veteran’s Day.

Margin requirements will be raised to 100% from 50% starting on 23 November the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses said