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TOKYO, Jan 7: Stocks on most Asian share markets were boosted on Monday by gains on Wall Street and positive local sentiment.
Shares in Tokyo rose 0.7 per cent, backed by rallies on Wall Street and steady gains in the Japanese banking sector, brokers said.
The Nikkei-225 average of the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 70.87 points to end the first full-day session of the year at 10,942.36. The Topix of all issues of the stock exchange rose 1.18 points to 1,055.14.
Buying sentiment revived in the afternoon as a strong performance on Wall Street is indicating an early recovery in the US economy, said Hiroichi Nishi, senior market analyst at Nikko Securities.
In New York on Friday last week, the Dow Jones industrials rose 0.9 per cent and the Nasdaq put on 0.7 per cent for a three-day New Year winning streak.
Steady moves of shares in major banks also contributed to overall gains, Nishi said, adding some high technology issues recovered from their early declines.
Brokers said investors were likely to test 11,000 points as early as Tuesday, but expected profit-taking would cap further gains.
The key Nikkei indicator fell early Monday as investors locked in profits after Japanese shares surged last week, brokers said.
Investors are locking in profits after they saw the Nikkei index rising higher than expected on Friday’s first trading day of the year, said Katsuhiko Kodama, head of equities at Toyo Securities.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices rose 1.6 per cent on the back of stronger US markets after better-than-expected US economic data.
The key Hang Seng index gained 190.49 points to close at 11,892.64.
Dealers said buying interest was across-the-board, with strong buying among institutional investors, who sought to re-open their trading books for the new year.
Kitty Chan, associate director of Lippo Securities, said the benchmark index rose in line with the strong performance of Wall Street on Friday following the release of better-than-expected US economic data.
SYDNEY: Australian share prices rose 0.3 per cent led by market heavyweight News Corp and gains in resource stocks.
The All Ordinaries index rose 11.0 points to 3,385.3 while the SP/ASX 200 closed up 11.2 points at 3,446.9.
A dealer at a domestic brokerage said Australian investors gained confidence from the US market gains on Friday, with most Australian American Depository Receipts higher.
The ADRs all performed pretty well and that gave us a good lead, but even more importantly is the fact that the US market is showing some real signs of returning confidence, he said.
SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices rose for a fourth straight day, finishing one per cent higher on hopes of an early economic recovery.
The Straits Times Index closed 17.28 points up at 1,695.95.
Elsewhere, the All-Singapore Equities Index rose 5.04 points to 448.22. There were 300 rising stocks, 54 decliners and 210 remained unchanged.
Investors went for blue chip shares on expectations a quick recovery from Singapore’s deepest recession since statehood in 1965 surged on economic data suggesting signs of a recovery, dealers said.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.5 per cent higher on local buying underpinned by Wall Street gains.
The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange composite index rose 3.64 points to finish at 697.11, but off an earlier high of 701.54.
A senior dealer with a local brokerage said the market managed to break the 700-point barrier in intra-day trade but failed to stay above that as profit-taking set in.
Another dealer said strong buying interest helped keep prices afloat although most of the early gains were eroded. Buyers were mainly local institutional funds, with some foreign interest, he said.
MUMBAI: Share prices closed 0.8 percent higher on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), led by software-related blue chips ahead of quarterly results expected later this week by Infosys.
The 30-share BSE sensitive index rose 26.06 points to close at 3,401.80.
The index rose sharply in early trading, but fell back later in the day on profit-taking and sustained concerns over the military stand-off with Pakistan.
JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 0.9 per cent higher in line with most regional markets, with telecommunications stocks leading the rise.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed up 3.523 points at 388.724 with 404.5 million shares worth $37.9 million changing hands.
Trade remained cautious as the market watches how the government handles the benchmark sale of a majority stake in PT Bank Central Asia (BCA), they added.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand stocks began the week solidly to close up 1.2 percent in light but positive trading.
The NZSE-40 capital index closed up 24.06 points on turnover topped by Lion Nathan and Telecom.
ABN Amro’s John McMahon said the market was relatively tight with not much stock available for buyers, despite the mediocre turnover.
There’s a bit of offshore interest in the market, buyers are having to pay up to get stock, McMahon said.—AFP
