Asian stocks stage rebound

HONG KONG, Nov 21: Asian stocks staged a rebound on Friday to close broadly in the black after suffering big losses early on following a sell-off on Wall Street overnight.

A raft of dismal economic news and fears for the US auto industry weighed on sentiment early as a delay on a decision over a bailout for the Big Three car makers pushed the Dow to its lowest level since 2003.

Regional markets took their cue from the US, opening sharply lower, but bargain-hunting and hopes of a rally on Wall Street later in the day saw bourses move back into positive territory.

Tokyo’s Nikkei ended 2.7 per cent up, Hong Kong added 2.9 per cent, Sydney 1.9 per cent and Taipei two per cent.

The rebound came despite a torrent of grim news on the economy, which one analyst described as “one car crash after another” for markets.

Whether through panic, speculation, fear or the forced unwinding of positions, we are witnessing mass selling on every level, said GFT derivatives head Martin Slaney in Australia.

The risk of global economic recession is deepening by the day. The prospect of The Great Depression Two is a genuine one and is plain scaring investors. Weekly US jobless claims shot up to a 16-year high, raising fears of a deep recession.

Continued worries about the global economy were also seen in oil markets, where crude fell below $50 a barrel for the first time since 2005 on prospects of lower demand.

The decision to delay a possible multi-billion dollar rescue for the car industry sent Wall Street down 5.56 per cent overnight.

TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei stock index closed up 2.7 per cent.

The Nikkei climbed 207.75 points to end at 7,910.79. The Topix index of all first section issues rose 20.41 points, or 2.6 per cent, to 802.69.

Many analysts, however, remained cautious.

Bank stocks were among the rising shares. Mizuho Financial soared 14 per cent to 226,900 yen.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed 2.9 per cent up.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 360.64 points at 12,659.20 and turnover was 50.44 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.47 billion US).

CASH Asset Management fund manager Patrick Yiu said the local market was boosted by speculation that China will introduce more pro-market measures and ease monetary policy over the weekend.

There is often such speculation on a Friday, as Beijing has in the past announced policy changes over the weekend to give markets time to digest the news.

SYDNEY: Australian shares closed up 1.9 per cent.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 rose 63.6 points to 3,416.5, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 54.3 points to 3,386.9.

A total of 1.75 billion shares valued at 5.09 billion dollars (3.1 billion US dollars) were traded.

The big miners, which were hit hard on Thursday, were among the better performers, with BHP Billiton adding 3.79 per cent to 21.90 and Rio Tinto up 4.82 per cent at 60.01.

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed 2.98 per cent higher.

The Straits Times Index ended up 48.15 points at 1,662.10 after trading 2.28 per cent lower shortly after opening.

Volume totalled 1.17 billion shares worth $972 million (US$635 million).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.2 per cent higher.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index rose 1.56 points to close at 866.88.

Construction firm Gamuda rose 4.6 per cent to 1.61 ringgit while telecommunications giant TMI gained 5.5 per cent to reach 4.20 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares ended 0.8 per cent lower.

The Jakarta Composite Index dropped 8.69 points to 1,146.28.

Heavyweight Telkom lost 4.4 per cent to 5,500 rupiah.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 2.52 per cent lower.

The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 66.57 points to close at 2,578.10.

Market leader Telecom fell seven cents to $2.24, Fletcher Building dropped six cents to 5.42 and Contact was down 41 cents at 6.39.