Strong manufacturing data and overnight gains on Wall Street gave Asian markets a boost on Wednesday. KEEPING SCORE: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged 0.2 percent higher to 30,568.04 and the Shanghai Composite index jumped 0.8 percent to 3,375.18. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.3 percent to 2,486.25 and the S&P ASX 200 in Australia ticked 0.1 percent higher to 6,069.10. Shares rose in Taiwan and Singapore but fell in Indonesia. Markets in Japan were closed for New Year holidays. They reopen on Thursday. WALL STREET: Technology and health care companies jumped Tuesday as U.S. stocks started the new year the same way they ... (full story)