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HONG KONG, April 16: Asian stocks closed sharply higher on Monday, buoyed by gains on Wall Street at the end of last week and a G7 finance ministers meeting in Washington which gave the region's exporters a nudge.
On the day the G7 meet left its mark after ministers limited their comments on Asian currency issues. This particularly helped Tokyo, where a falling yen had benefitted Japanese exports and that situation is now expected to remain.
As a result the Tokyo benchmark rose 1.52 per cent while Sydney, Seoul, Jakarta and Shanghai also rose sharply to close at record highs.
TOKYO: Share prices closed up 1.52 per cent on expectations that exporters will continue to benefit from a weak yen after world finance chiefs skirted the issue over the weekend.
The Nikkei-225 index rose 264.35 points to 17,628.30. Volume fell to 1.80 billion shares from 2.03 billion Friday.
Shares rose as the euro hit a record high against the yen following the G7 meeting, helping exporters to post gains.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 2.05 per cent higher led by China Mobile and other blue chips on strong liquidity inflows after another record high on China's A-share bourses.
Dealers said hopes that China will let the yuan appreciate further is leading to increased fund inflows into China and Hong Kong.
China Mobile was also supported by expectations that it will report strong subscriber numbers for March and for the first quarter.
SYDNEY: Share prices extended gains, adding 1.01 per cent for another record close as investors cheered a positive lead from Wall Street on Friday and counted on continued strong growth.
The major banks enjoyed a particularly strong day while the market was also supported by heavyweight mining stocks on the back of a sustained advance in metals prices, they added.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 1.2 per cent higher as property stocks led gains amid a widespread rally that bolstered benchmarks across the region.
The Straits Times Index (STI) closed up 40.56 points at 3,414.15 on volume of 3.82 billion shares worth 2.17 billion dollars (1.44 billion US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 1.12 per cent higher on rotational interest in select blue chips, building materials firms and property stocks.
The composite index rose 14.71 points to 1,322.91 on volume of 2.03 billion shares valued at 2.62 billion ringgit (761.6 million dollars).
An analyst with a local brokerage said positive news had kept the local bourse buoyant although there were pockets of selling pressure after the benchmark composite index breached the 1,300 psychological barrier last week.
JAKARTA: Share prices closed up 1.17 per cent to reach a fresh record high, buoyed by expectations of healthy corporate results and following gains on world markets.
The composite index closed up 22.670 points to 1,963.822 on volume of 2.93 billion shares worth 3.86 trillion rupiah (424.41 million dollars).
The rise was driven by major gas firm Perusahaan Gas Negara as well as mining and banking stocks, Dongsuh Kolibindo analyst Ryan Ariadi Suwarno said.
Overall, market sentiment was strong today driven by both positive external and internal news, Suwarno said.
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.15 per cent higher following gains in market leader Telecom.
The NZX-50 index rose 6.41 points to 4,170.71 on turnover worth 129.4 million dollars (95.6 million US).
Hamilton Hindin Greene partner Grant Williamson said the week began quietly, with Telecom's nine cent gain to 4.83 dollars standing out.
It seems to be foreign buying, mainly out of Australia, that's caused the improvement, Williamson said.
MUMBAI: Share prices surged 2.33 per cent, in anticipation of strong earnings from India's biggest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services.
Dealers said the outlook for software firms has improved since last week on higher-than-expected fourth quarter earnings reported by the second largest software firm Infosys Technologies.
Tata Consultancy earnings are due later Monday.
The Mumbai Sensex rose 311.5 points to 13,695.58.
Tata Consultancy shares rose 17.45 rupees to 1,280.1.—AFP
