Asian shares held within one-year peaks on Thursday as Chinese trade data topped forecasts and imports recorded their first annual rise since late 2014, a promising sign for global demand that gave the Australia dollar a lift.

Beijing reported imports rose 1.5% in August from a year ago, confounding forecasts of a 4.9% drop, while exports from the Asian giant dipped 2.8%.

The initial reaction was muted, in part because markets have come to distrust the veracity of Chinese data over the years, though the Aussie did nudge up a touch to $0.7691 (£0.58).