Asian investors on buying spree, markets soar
Tokyo (dpa) - Asia’s primary stock indices surged Monday, feeding on merger news, a strong performance on Wall Street and one another’s gains.
The biggest jumps were seen in China, whose main indices saw leaps of roughly 8 per cent as the government approved two new mutual funds, ending a five-month halt on new fund sales, and the World Bank said it foresaw slower but steady economic growth for the country of 9.6 per cent this year.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 3.77 per cent, and South Korea’s Kospi rose 3.4 per cent.
Stocks in Tokyo were up on Microsoft Corp’s offer to buy Yahoo Inc and a rescue plan for a US bond insurer.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average surged 2.69 per cent to close at 13,859.7 while the broader Topix index of all first-section issues was up 2.08 per cent at 1,364.72.
Among the rising issues were Yahoo Japan Corp; Softbank Corp, which owns 41 per cent of Yahoo Japan; and financial stocks, such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, after reports that a group of banks were seeking to provide financing to Ambac Financial Group Inc, the second-largest US bond insurer, raising hopes that credit market woes in the world’s largest economy and Japan’s largest export market would be limited.
In China, the CSI 300 Index, which tracks yuan-denominated A shares listed on the mainland’s two exchanges, soared 8.27 per cent to 4,950.12 while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 8.13 per cent to 4,672.17 and the Shenzhen Composite Index was up 7.91 per cent at 1,375.73.
The Hang Seng rose to 25,032.08 with analysts saying the rally was partly due to interest rate cuts imposed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, which were followed by banks. A soar in mainland stocks also fuelled confidence with the bullish sentiment that spurred gains in Shanghai and Shenzhen spilling over into Hong Kong.
The index, however, is still down about 22 per cent from its peak of 32,000 on October 30.
The Kospi rose to 1,690.13 as it tracked a Friday rally in US markets that came after Microsoft made an unsolicited bid of 44.6 billion dollars for Yahoo in an effort to keep up with search engine leader Google.
Speculation of a flurry of takeovers prevailed in Asia Monday after Aluminium Corp of China Ltd and Alcoa Inc bought a 9-per-cent, 14-billion-dollar stake in the Rio Tinto Group. The South China Morning Post also reported that China might buy a stake in Fortescue Metals Group Ltd.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index was up 2.3 per cent to 3,077.08 as analysts there said economic fundamentals in Singapore and Asia were still sound.
“Let’s remember that many of the companies’ operating environments are still intact,” researcher Song Seng Wun said.
Taiwan’s Taiex index was up 2.03 per cent while India’s benchmark Sensex index was trading 1.89 per cent higher at 18,586.78 as investors were encouraged by firm global markets and bought blue-chip stocks.
The National Stock Exchange’s broader 50-stock S&P CNX Nifty gained 2.26 per cent to 5,437.3
Asian investors on buying spree, markets soar
« Thaksins lawyer likely to be foreign minister | Home | Thaksin wants more power in new PPP government | Samak clash over Cabinet »
Related posts:
- Place related post plugin php here...