Asian stocks end firmer on Wall Street rally
Asian stocks end firmer on Wall Street rally
SINGAPORE (Agencies): Asian stock markets finished firmer on
Wednesday, encouraged by an overnight rally on Wall Street and a
pledge by China's central bank governor that the yuan would not
be devalued.
Shares in Seoul shot up more than six percent, while Tokyo
edged 0.47 percent higher and Hong Kong climbed more than two
percent.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 average closed 68.05 points firmer at
14,450.06 after semiconductor-related stocks gained ground on the
back of a 2.71 percent rally by the technology-laced Nasdaq index
on Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial average had also strengthened
overnight, closing 1.32 percent up at 9,324.58.
Hong Kong stocks closed sharply higher after Chinese central
bank governor Dai Xianglong doused fears of a yuan devaluation
and an overnight rally on Wall Street boosted confidence.
The Hang Seng index finished 2.21 percent higher at 9,719.66.
Singapore stocks ended 2.8 percent higher, with the benchmark
Straits Times Index of the Stock Exchange of Singapore rising
40.30 points to end at 1,457.44 while the broader All-Singapore
Index was up 7.99 to 391.14.
Australian share prices closed up 0.8 percent, the Australian
Stock Exchange's main indicator, the All Ordinaries index,
closing up 23.5 points at 2,851.4.
Malaysian share prices ended 0.9 percent lower, the Kuala
Lumpur Stock Exchange's composite index falling 5.70 points to
finish at 605.18.
Thai shares rose 1.8 percent at the close, with the Stock
Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index growing 6.48 points to
373.25, while the SET 50 selected index was 0.51 points higher at
27.30.
Philippine share prices rose 0.6 percent, the Philippine
Stock Exchange composite index gaining 11.74 points to close at
1,994.00. It breached the 2,000-point psychological barrier in
intra-day trade, but profit-taking toward the close of the
session shaved off the gains.
South Korean share prices surged 6.4 percent in a technical
rebound, the Korea Stock Exchange main index closing 33.97 points
higher at 565.20.
Taiwan share prices closed 0.4 percent higher, the Taiwan
Stock Exchange weighted price index rising 23.23 points to
6,138.87, following a 1.4-percent rise in the previous session.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange's B-share index gained 0.20 points
to settle at 25.21 points, while the A-share index of locally
traded stocks ended up 8.81 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,220.83
points.
New Zealand shares closed down 0.6 percent, with the NZSE-40
capital index falling 13.72 points at 2,165.58.