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HONG KONG, Oct 31: Asian stocks closed sharply higher on Monday on the back of a strong rally on Wall Street where robust growth figures shook off concerns over the indictment of a key White House aide, dealers said.
Gains were across the boards in Asia-Pacific although in thin volumes with trading to remain heavily interrupted this week amid a string of public holidays.
Tokyo was among the best performers, rising almost two per cent, with sentiment buoyed by a cabinet reshuffle.
Sydney, Taipei, Singapore, Jakarta and Hong Kong were also among the strongest on the day but dealers said the bounce was partially technical in nature given recent large falls and market volatility.
TOKYO: Share prices closed 1.95 per cent higher, boosted by strong gains on Wall Street and by investors picking up companies that posted strong earnings.
Dealers said sentiment got a further boost in the afternoon on news that Shinzo Abe, a hawkish 51-year-old seen as a potential successor to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, had been named chief cabinet secretary.
The Nikkei-225 index rose 259.96 points to 13,606.50 on volume of 2.71 billion shares.
Several companies which reported strong first half results and raised their forecasts for the full year did well.
Matsushita Electric Industrial jumped 174 yen to 2,115 after report a near 15 per cent increase in first half net profit while Fanuc, the industrial robot maker, put on 500 yen to 9,100.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 1.20 per cent higher on a technical rebound, with Wall Street’s rally on Friday supporting local sentiment.
The Hang Seng Index was up 170.54 points at 14,386.37. Turnover was 16.65 billion Hong Kong dollars (2.1 billion US).
Among blue chips and conglomerates, HSBC gained 0.70 to 121.30, Hutchison Whampoa up 1.60 at 73.40, Swire Pacific up 0.75 at 69.50 and China Mobile up 0.70 at 34.50.
Cheung Kong (Holdings) was up 1.05 at 80.65, after it submitted to the Hong Kong stock exchange an application to list a real estate investment trust with a property portfolio worth 4.0 billion Hong Kong dollars. It will be the first REIT listed in Hong Kong.
SYDNEY: Share prices closed a sharp 1.75 per cent higher with solid gains across the market following a positive lead from Wall Street on the back of better-than-expected US growth figures.
The S and P/ASX 200 index rose 76.7 points at 4,459.7. Turnover was 882.4 million shares worth 2.92 billion dollars (2.19 billion US).
BHP Billiton gained 0.65, to 20.75 dollars while Rio Tinto added 1.37 to 56.31.Telstra gained 0.03 to 4.21 and SingTel added 0.02 to 1.855.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 1.11 per cent higher, on a technical rebound supported by Friday’s sharp gains on Wall Street after strong US third quarter growth figures.
The Straits Times Index rose 24.36 points to 2,216.77. Volume totalled 675 million shares worth 910 million Singapore dollars (538 million US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.55 per cent higher on support for selected blue chips after last Friday’s sharp gains on Wall Street.
The Composite Index rose 4.97 points to 910.76 and volume traded was 237.45 million shares worth 519.62 million ringgit (137.65 million dollars).
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.75 per cent higher in quiet trade ahead of the long Eid-al-Fitr holiday from Wednesday.
The Composite Index added 7.968 points at 1,066.224 on volume of 479.38 million shares worth 728.10 billion rupiah (72.81 million dollars.)
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.68 per cent higher, bouncing back from recent falls after sharp gains on Wall Street Friday but the tone remained cautious.
The NZSX-50 gross index rose 22.41 points to 3,293.16 on turnover of 91.7 million New Zealand dollars (64.4 million US).
MUMBAI: Share prices surged 2.69 per cent in low volume trade as domestic and overseas funds bought leading benchmark index shares.
The Sensex closed up 206.68 points at 7,892.32. Turnover was low at 21.10 billion rupees ($467 million) as 1,468 stocks gained.
—AFP
