HONG KONG, July 21: Asian stocks rose strongly on Monday, with some markets up over three per cent as lower oil prices and better Wall Street performance gave investors the courage to hunt for bargains after this year’s steep falls.

In a day that saw just one market down, the biggest gainer was Taipei, which advanced almost four per cent as traders felt confident following New York’s rally.

The rise helped the bourse recover some of last week’s losses.

Sydney also rose by 3.5 per cent as the market broke the psychological 5,000-point barrier, helped by banks, property and mining.

Many bourses were lifted on the back of better-than-expected quarterly results from US banking giant Citigroup. The firm has been hit hard by the collapsed subprime or high-risk home loan market in the United States.

The figures were a timely boost, coming as oil prices in Wall Street fell to below 130 dollars in New York Friday -- well below the peaks of 147 dollars seen earlier this month.

In other markets, Jakarta was up 2.5 per cent, Manila moved 1.1 per cent higher and New Zealand advanced 0.87 per cent. The only market to fall in the region was Kuala Lumpur, which shed 0.1 per cent.

Mumbai was up 1.57 per cent as dealers felt confident the Congress-led coalition would survive an upcoming no-confidence vote in parliament.

Tokyo’s stock exchange was closed for a public holiday.

HONG KONG: Shares closed 3.01 per cent higher, dealers said.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 658.71 points at 22,532.9, after trading between 22,455.01 and 22,645.52 during the session. Turnover was 69.64 billion Hong Kong dollars (8.93 billion US).

Property stocks led the gains after a newspaper report said the supply of new land and flats will be very limited in the next two years.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 2.51 per cent higher, dealers said.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index finished 71.48 points higher at 2,919.21.

Volume totalled 992 million shares worth 1.32 billion Singapore dollars (977 million US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices ended little changed, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 1.56 points 1,103.48.

Telecommunications company DiGi.com was down 1.7 per cent at 23.30 ringgit, palm oil giant KL Kepong shed 1.2 per cent 13.50 ringgit and KNM lost 4.7 per cent at 5.65 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed up 2.5 per cent, dealers said. The Jakarta Composite index rose 53.92 points to 2,195.06.

Top gainers included bellwether Telekomunikasi Indonesia, which rose 5.2 per cent at 5,100 rupiah.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices rose 0.87 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark NZX-50 Index was up 27.41 points at 3,148.32.

The improving strength of the market was driven by a few blue chips.

MUMBAI: Indian shares closed 1.57 per cent higher, dealers said.

The benchmark Mumbai 30-share Sensex index rose 214.64 points to 13,850.04, its third straight day of gains.

Sentiment also continued to improve on a lower-than-expected inflation figure of 11.91 per cent released last week.—AFP