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HONG KONG, April 20:Asian stocks bounced back to close broadly higher on Friday amid easing concerns over a tightening of monetary policy in China, and on the back of a record close on Wall Street overnight.
A further tightening by Beijing, including interest rate hikes, remains on the cards after China posted a sharp spike in quarterly economic growth figures and prompted Thursday's sell-off in stocks around the region.
However, on the day bargain hunters moved in on what many described as a technical rebound with investors also adopting a-wait-and-see approach to what mainland authorities will do next to cool their rapidly overheating economy.
Elsewhere, Sydney advanced 0.69 per cent, Manila rose 0.52 per cent as Singapore leapt 2.11 per cent as Mumbai climbed 2.03 per cent and Kuala Lumpur gained 0.69 per cent.
TOKYO: Share prices staged a modest rally Friday as investors welcomed gains on the US and Chinese bourses amid easing concerns about China's breakneck economic growth.
The Nikkei-225 index rose 80.65 points to 17,452.62. Volume dropped to 1.79 billion shares from 2.14 billion on Thursday.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 1.31 per cent higher, rebounding from Thursday's steep decline amid hopes that Chinese authorities will take measured steps to cool down the country's economy.
The Hang Seng Index closed up 266.88 points at 20,566.59. Turnover was heavy at 63.0 billion dollars (8.1 billion US).
SYDNEY: Share prices rose 0.69 per cent as a positive lead from Wall Street helped the banking and resource sectors bounce back from sharp losses on Thursday.
Banks were favoured even though inflation data for the three months to March, due to be released next Tuesday, is expected to support the case for another interest rate hike by the central bank next month.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 2.11 per cent higher on a technical rebound after steep losses triggered by fears of credit-tightening measures in China.
The Straits Times Index closed up 69.39 points at 3,360.67 on volume of 4.11 billion shares worth 1.91 billion Singapore dollars (1.26 billion US).
Shares on the Singapore bourse closed 3.21 per cent lower Thursday on fears that China's rapid first quarter economic growth might prompt a further interest rate hike, dealers said.
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.69 per cent higher on a technical rebound with investors picking up bargains in index-linked stocks after Thursday's sell-off.
The composite index closed up 9.01 points at 1,315.37. Trading reached 1.625 billion shares worth 2.464 billion ringgit (720.4 million dollars).
Sentiment is likely to remain cautious for a while. Tenaga was up 0.20 ringgit at 12.00.
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 2.63 per cent higher with the main index ending at another all-time high in a technical rebound after Thursday's sell-off.
The composite index closed up 50.378 points at 1,968.731. Volume was 3.73 billion shares worth 3.74 trillion rupiah (411.35 million dollars).
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed barely changed, with only market leader Telecom and Air New Zealand standing out in an otherwise featureless session.
The NZX-50 gross index rose 2.26 points to 4,182.90 on turnover worth 118.7 million dollars (88.3 million US).
Air New Zealand soared nearly seven percent in intra-day trade to 2.67, its highest level since September 2003, before closing up 15 cents at 2.65.
MUMBAI: Share prices rose 2.03 per cent on improved fund buying after two of India's top software exporters gave higher fourth quarter earnings.
Dealers said the markets could gain further next week despite concerns of a tightening in monetary policy by India's central Reserve Bank next Tuesday.—AFP
