HONG KONG, Sept 27: Asian stocks closed sharply higher on Wednesday following solid gains on Wall Street after economic data indicated the US economy might be heading for a softer than expected landing.
Support for the world's most important economy was delivered by the US Conference Board which announced its consumer confidence index for September stood at 104.5, up from a revised reading of 100.2 in August.
This powered Wall Street to its best finish for the year and Asia followed suit with Tokyo up 2.15 per cent, Sydney surged 2.08 per cent, Seoul rose by 1.19 per cent, Singapore was up 1.26 per cent and Hong Kong by 1.23 per cent.
TOKYO: Share prices shot higher on the back of sharp gains overnight on Wall Street where upbeat data eased worries over slowing US growth.
Dealers said investors were still weighing prospects for the policies of new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a day after he unveiled a cabinet with ministers largely unknown to overseas investors in key economic posts.
The Nikkei-225 index jumped 390.42 points or 2.51 per cent to 15,947.87, the highest closing level since September 8. Volume was 1.54 billion shares, up from 1.25 billion Tuesday.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 1.23 per cent higher as select blue chips, notably China Mobile and China Life, staged a technical rebound following steep losses Tuesday.
The Hang Seng Index closed up 213.43 points at 17,521.51. Turnover was 31.83 billion Hong Kong dollars (4.1 billion US).
SYDNEY: Share prices closed up 2.08 per cent after a Wall Street rally lifted investor sentiment and rising metal prices boosted mining stocks.
The SP/ASX 200 surged 103.6 points to 5,093.2. Turnover was 1.36 billion shares worth 5.33 billion dollars (4 billion dollars US).
Land said there was a lot of interest in BHP Billiton given the recent fall in the stock.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 1.26 per cent higher boosted by positive economic and political news.
The Straits Times index closed 31.90 points higher at 2,557.90 on volume of 1.12 billion shares worth 968.61 million Singapore dollars (610 million US).
Stocks of big property developers were higher on expectations that brokers will re-rate the property sector, in view of higher residential prices and office rents, dealers said.
City Developments rose 0.40 to 10.80.
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed flat as Wall Street's overnight gains failed to allay worries exports might be negatively affected by a slowing global economy.
The composite index was up 0.66 points at 966.32 and volume traded was 445.18 million shares valued 722.93 million ringgit (196.31 million dollars).
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 1.53 per cent higher led by telecom and bank stocks, with broad market sentiment boosted by gains in major Asian markets.
The composite index closed up 22.954 points at 1,523.059 on volume of 1.41 billion shares valued at 1.50 trillion rupiah (165 million dollars).
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 1.29 per cent higher on high turnover as investors responded positively to corporate takeover moves.
The NZX-50 gross index rose 45.97 points to 3,561.71 on strong turnover worth 317.0 million dollars (208.8 million US).
This is well above the 5.75 dollar a share offer from founder Stephen Tindall, who said today he was rethinking his privatisation plans.—AFP
