HONG KONG/LONDON - Asian shares closed mostly up Thursday but the gains were generally modest after disappointing Wall Street performance and poor Chinese economic data. The Shanghai bourse fell by 0.38 percent after official data showed that China's industrial output growth slowed to a 17-month low in July as a cooling global economy curbs demand for its exports. The Chinese stock market is some 60 percent down from its peak in October last year. Investors in the Asia-Pacific had to digest a poor lead from Wall Street on Wednesday after the Dow Jones index fell nearly one percent in the wake of figures showing declining US retail sales in July. A rise in world oil prices also curbed enthusiasm for stocks, although at around 117 dollars per barrel the cost of crude remains well down from record highs above 147 dollars reached last month. Elsewhere in Asia on Thursday, Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore ended in the black. But Japan, Asia's biggest market, fell by 0.51 percent. Among smaller markets, India fell nearly 2.5 percent, but Indonesia rose more than two percent after publishing better-than-expected economic growth data showing 6.39 percent expansion in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Europe's main stock markets rose on Thursday, despite news of shrinking European economic growth in the second quarter, as heavyweight miners were boosted by higher commodity prices, traders said. The eurozone economy contracted for the first time ever in the second quarter, with gross domestic product (GDP) falling 0.2 percent as German growth succumbed to global strains, official data showed. In late morning European trading, the FTSE 100 index of top companies was jolted 1.15 percent higher to 5,511.30 points. Frankfurt's DAX 30 added 0.33 percent to 6,443.08 points and the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.77 percent to stand at 4,437.03 nearing the half-way mark. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares won 0.20 percent to 3,361.39 points. The euro climbed to 1.4917 dollars. Wall Street closed lower Wednesday in the wake of a report showing retail sales declined slightly in July and as world oil prices spiked higher. However, European markets shook off the downbeat mood, as investors took heart from rising metals prices which lift profits for the mining sector. In London, mining group Antofagasta saw its share price rally 6.60 percent to 573.5 pence and resources giant BHP Billiton leapt 6.02 percent to 1,603 pence. Anglo American gained 4.55 percent to 2,918 pence, Rio Tinto added 5.45 percent to 4,912 pence and Xstrata won 4.72 percent to 3,104 pence. In Paris, shares in ArcelorMittal " the world's biggest steelmaker " increased by 2.66 percent to 53.21 euros. German steel group Thyssenkrupp added 1.10 percent to 34.14 euros in Frankfurt. In US trading on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.94 percent at 11,532.96. Wall Street stocks declined after the monthly government survey on retail sales revealed a 0.1 percent fall last month, largely in the face of slumping car and truck sales which have been hit by higher fuel prices. The tech-rich Nasdaq composite ended down a slight 0.08 percent at 2,428.62 while the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 0.29 percent to close at 1,285.83.