In South Korea, Hyundai Motor Co soared 6.2 percent after Lee said the government would drastically increase spending and take steps to provide sufficient liquidity to the currency market, boost domestic demand, keep jobs and support smaller firms.
“I won’t neglect even for a moment checking the economic situation and drawing up countermeasures and implementing them,” Lee said. “It’s time for us to unite.”
It was not all positive news however, as Australian share prices shed 0.2 percent following falls in many financial stocks.
“With many traders still not back at their desks until Monday we will yet again see some thin volumes and maybe a degree of volatility,” Yates said.
On Wednesday in New York, Wall Street finished its last trading day of last year with a modest gain.
The Dow rose 108.00 points, or 1.3 percent, to 8,776.39, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 12.61, or 1.4 percent, to 903.25.
Dendra Lambert, analyst at Hilliard Lyons, said a two-day rally to close out the year was a positive sign.
“After experiencing the worst losses since the Great Depression, some onlookers believe bargain hunters were starting to emerge in the final days of trading of 2008,” she said.
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