Asian stocks closed sharply higher on Friday with bargain hunters re-emerging after recent falls and a record finish on Wall Street overnight amid falling oil prices.
Tokyo was among the best performers with investors shrugging off the prospect of an interest rate rise next week and pushing the benchmark up 1.30 percent. Taipei gained 1.88 percent and Seoul rose 1.69 percent.
Markets elsewhere followed suit. Bangkok, continuing to recover from new foreign investment rules, was up 1.27 percent, Kuala Lumpur rose 1.20 percent and Manila gained 1.77 percent. Singapore and Sydney each surged 1.33 percent.
Mumbai stood out on the day, rallying 3.12 percent to a record close on the back of better than expected production figures.
TAIPEI
Share prices closed 1.88 percent higher as an initial rebound powered by Wall Street's record close overnight gained further momentum on government-related funds support.
Dealers said select government-related funds bought into large-cap stocks in an apparent attempt to support the market against any further repercussions or psychological impact of financial troubles at conglomerate Rebar Asia Pacific Group (
The weighted index closed up 143.16 points at 7,761.71 on turnover of NT$126.92 billion (US$3.87 billion).
Legal authorities have launched an investigation into Rebar for any irregularities and have so far detained two executives from the group in relation to the probe.
But analysts said that after government-related funds apparently bought large-cap stocks to assure the markets the impact of Rebar's woes is not too big for the government to handle, the Rebar lead has now been mostly factored in.
Analysts noted large gains in technology stocks, for instance, which initially rose on the back of a rally in their US counterparts, but sustained the gains until the closing session.
TOKYO
Share prices closed up 1.30 percent, rallying after heavy recent losses as investors cheered a weaker yen and another record high on Wall Street overnight.
The NIKKEI-225 index gained 218.84 points to 17,057.01.
"A record-breaking performance on Wall Street and a further weakening of the yen [helped to support] the view that the market's recent pull-back is finally over," SBI Securities market analyst Hideyuki Suzuki said.
Investors are also betting that even if the Bank of Japan raises interest rates by a quarter point to 0.5 percent next week it will not have a particularly negative impact on share prices, dealers said.
HONG KONG
Share prices closed 1.18 percent higher, snapping a four-day losing streak as a record close on Wall Street overnight encouraged rotational buying of some blue-chip laggards and H-shares.
Dealers said China-related financials led the rebound on expectations they will benefit from the mainland's approval for issue of yuan-denominated bonds in Hong Kong, while the property sector also regained some ground.
The Hang Seng Index closed up 228.04 points at 19,613.41.
Kitty Chan, director at Celestial Asia Securities, said the local bourse "took its cue from overseas markets."
SEOUL
Share prices closed 1.69 percent higher as investors were encouraged by Wall Street's record performance overnight and the positives in Samsung Electronics's results.
Dealers said Samsung Electronics, a favorite for foreign investors, led the way after announcing a large share buy-back along with its results which came in slightly below forecasts.
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