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HONG KONG, Sept 27: Asian stocks rose on Thursday taking a clutch of markets to all-time highs as some of the caution triggered by stock market turbulence earlier in the year faded.
The jump in share prices saw the bourses in Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore hit record closing highs as investors put aside concerns that a US credit crunch could cause a major economic slowdown.
An overnight rise in Wall Street, triggered after General Motors struck an agreement to end a two-day-old nationwide strike, also helped sentiment in Asia.
Other Asian markets did well including Japan, where share prices surged 2.4 percent.
Hong Kong closed up 2.4 percent rising above the 27,000-point level, Singapore was up 1.77 per cent and Australia was up 0.9 per cent.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices surged 2.4 per cent to close at a six-week high, lifted by overnight gains on Wall Street and hopes of solid domestic earnings, dealers said.
They said exporters led the way higher as a weaker yen brightened prospects for their overseas earnings.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index of leading shares rose 396.48 points or 2.41 percent to 16,832.22, the best close since August 14.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares advanced 39.13 points or 2.48 percent to 1,615.15.
Gainers outnumbered decliners 1,510 to 169, with 34 issues unchanged.
Turnover rose to 2.08 billion shares from 1.75 billion Wednesday.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed at a new high above 27,000 points as futures-related activity and end of September portfolio sprucing by fund managers boosted blue chips, dealers said.
They said China Mobile led gains among large-caps.
The Hang Seng index closed up 634.86 points or 2.4 percent at 27,065.15, off a low of 26,664.79 and a new all-time-high of 27,166.01.
Turnover also hit a new record at 147.05 billion Hong Kong dollars (18.85 billion US). The previous high was achieved on Monday at 140.04 billion dollars.
SYDNEY: Australian share prices rose 0.9 per cent to a record high after overnight gains on Wall Street boosted sentiment, dealers said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed up 56.7 points to an all-time high of 6,538.1, while the broader All Ordinaries also hit new heights, rising 56.6 points to 6,548.
Volume was 1.9 billion shares worth 7.0 billion dollars (6.0 billion US), with 766 stocks up, 514 down and 353 unchanged.
SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed at a new record high on blue-chip buying with investors buoyed by Wall Street’s rally, dealers said.
The Straits Times Index closed up 64.68 points, or 1.77 percent, at 3,714.77, surpassing the previous peak of 3,665.13 set on July 24.
Volume was 2.95 billion shares worth 3.14 billion dollars (2.10 billion US).
Gainers outshone losers 555 to 282 while 816 issues were unchanged.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 1.1 per cent higher amid an Asian rally after Wall Street’s overnight gains, dealers said.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 14.77 points to 1,335.66 on volume of 1.232 billion shares worth 2.177 billion ringgit (637.5 million dollars) while gainers led decliners 584 to 242 and 286 stocks were unchanged.
At the close, the ringgit was quoted at 3.4150/3.4200 against the dollar.
JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 0.8 per cent higher, tracking Wall Street’s gains with coal giant Bumi Resources and nickel miner Inco leading the rise, dealers said.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed up 17.82 points to 2,378.82, off an intra-day high of 2,381.08. Volume was 5.71 billion shares worth 4.80 trillion rupiah (524.59 million dollars).
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed flat as many investors chose to remain on the sidelines, dealers said.
The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 0.16 points to 4,275.81 on turnover worth 160.0 million dollars (119.8 million US).
There just seems to be selected participation at the moment, said Campbell Stuart of UBS.
Potential takeover target Sky City eased a cent to 5.05 dollars on turnover of 6.1 million shares.
Air New Zealand rose nine cents to 2.42 dollars following a six-cent gain on Wednesday.—AFP
