HONG KONG, Dec 3,: Asia’s markets staged a modest rebound on Wednesday as investors cautiously followed a rally on Wall Street that had come on hopes of a bailout for the ailing United States auto industry.

TOKYO: Japanese shares rallied 1.79 per cent.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 140.41 points, or 1.79 per cent, to end at 8,004.10. The broader Topix index of all first section issues gained 12.07 points, or 1.53 per cent, to end at 799.19.

The market continues to be influenced by US stocks, reversing recent losses slightly after the Big Three put forward their revamp plans, said Hideaki Higashi, a strategist at SMBC Friend Securities.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed 1.4 per cent higher.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended the day up 182.81 points at 13,588.66, after trading between 13,573.43 and 13,778.05 during the session.

SINGAPORE: Shares closed flat.The main Straits Times Index was 0.08 per cent, or 1.39 points, higher at 1,640.57.

Volume totalled 1.02 billion shares worth 744 million Singapore dollars (489 million US).

Singapore Airlines was off eight cents to 10.20 Singapore dollars, ST Engineering added three cents to 2.26 while Singapore Telecommunications rose eight cents to 2.50.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shares closed 0.2 per cent higher.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 1.78 points to close the day at 847.53.

IOI Corp added 1.3 per cent at 3.18 ringgit, DiGi.com was 3.9 per cent higher at 21.40 ringgit and MISC was 0.6 per cent higher at 8.50 ringgit.

Maybank shed 1.0 per cent at 5.10 ringgit and Tanjong was down 0.8 per cent at 4.76 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares ended 0.1 per cent higher.

The Jakarta Composite Index rose 1.17 points to 1,192.53.

Bank Rakyat Indonesia gained 3.2 per cent to 3,225 rupiah and Bank Mandiri rose 4.2 per cent to 1,490 on bargain buying.

Coal miner Bumi Resources shed 9.4 per cent to 770 rupiah.

MUMBAI: Indian shares closed up 0.09 per cent.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex index climbed 8.19 points to 8,747.43.—AFP