HONG KONG, Feb 27: Asian markets mostly rose on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke reaffirmed the central bank’s huge monetary easing scheme, but a stronger yen sent Tokyo lower.

Investors remained hesitant and the euro came under pressure after Italy’s election results which left no party in overall control, raising concerns that uncertainty in Rome could see the eurozone return to the dark days of crisis.

Tokyo closed down 1.27 per cent, or 144.84 points, at 11,253.97, Sydney was up 0.66 per cent, or 33 points, at 5036.6, and Seoul rose 0.20 per cent, or 4.03 points, to 2,004.04. Shanghai closed up 0.87 per cent, or 19.88 points, at 2,313.22, while Hong Kong finished 0.25 per cent stronger, adding 57.32 points to 22,577.01.

In other markets: Manila closed 0.22 per cent lower, shedding 14.40 points to 6,616.27. Megaworld Corp. fell 2.05 per cent to 3.82 pesos and Alliance Global Group dropped 2.40 per cent to 20.30 pesos, while Bank of the Philippine Islands eased 1.67 per cent to 105.80 pesos.

Taipei rose 0.22 per cent, or 17.08 points, to 7,897.98. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was 0.97 per cent higher at Tw$104.5 and leading integrated chip design house MediaTek added 1.06 per cent to Tw$333.5.

Singapore rose 0.21 per cent, or 6.86 points, to close at 3,261.12. Keppel Corp gained 1.22 per cent to Sg$11.61 while DBS Group fell 0.46 per cent to Sg$15.10.

Jakarta ended up 1.14 per cent, or 53.38 points, at 4,716.42. Retailer Ramayana Lestari Sentosa gained 3.91 per cent to 1,330 rupiah and food manufacturer Indofood Sukses Makmur rose 2.90 per cent to 7,100 rupiah, while cigarette maker Gudang Garam slid 1.21 per cent to 48,850 rupiah.

Kuala Lumpur shares ended flat at 1,624.14. Malayan Banking fell 0.2 per cent to 9.12 ringgit, while Telekom Malaysia shed 0.2 per cent to 5.32. AirAsia gained 8.3 per cent to 2.86 ringgit.

Mumbai rose 0.72 per cent, or 137.27 points, to 19,152.41. India’s private carrier Jet Airways jumped 19.27 per cent to 534.85 rupees while engineering giant Larsen and Toubro rose 3.16 per cent to 1,410.45 rupees.—AFP