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.