Asian stock markets rose Monday, taking cues from U.S. equities’ strong performance at the end of last week, along with accompanying gains for commodities.
Markets in Tokyo remain shuttered for holidays
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index galloped 225.13 points, or 1%, to 22,915.09
The strength for Asian equities came after Wall Street saw some fresh record highs for share indices on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 1%, and the S&P 500 ending 1.1% higher to surpass the 1,600 level.
The U.S. jobs numbers also boosted some key commodities futures Friday, which in turn, sent most major Asia resource shares solidly higher on Monday.
Australian miner shares were among the big winners, with BHP Billiton Ltd. up 2.8%, Rio Tinto Ltd. adding 3.1%, Alumina Ltd. surging 4.9%, and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. improving by 5.9%.
Over in Hong Kong, shares of Jiangxi Copper Co. soared 5.2% after a rally of almost 7% in copper futures, with the company’s Shanghai shares gaining 3.6%.
Gains for crude oil similarly helped energy names in Hong Kong, where PetroChina Co. pulled 2.1% higher, and Cnooc Ltd. rose 1.4%.
Also in the energy space, Sydney-listed Karoon Gas Australia Ltd. zoomed 22.6% higher after it said its joint venture in Brazil had made its second significant offshore oil discovery.
On the downside in Sydney, building-supplies firm Boral Ltd. fell 3.2% after issuing a profit warning due to weakness in the Australian housing market.
In Hong Kong, strength in the U.S. also lifted some globally exposed blue chips. Fashion house Prada SpA jumped 6.8%, Samsonite International SA added 0.7%, and electronics producer Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. traded 1.9% higher.
Also among Hong Kong’s notable risers, casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. popped 5.9% after the company said it would buy assets on Macau’s Cotai Strip from Get Nice Holdings Ltd. for 3.25 billion Hong Kong dollars ($419 million U.S.). Shares of Get Nice zoomed 11.3% higher.
In Seoul, some major shipbuilders powered higher, as Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. Co. leapt 4.1% and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. added 2.5%. But some heavily weighted tech issues weakened, with Samsung Electronics Co. down 1.4% and SK Hynix Inc. off 2.2%.
Meanwhile, a pair of high-profile initial public offerings began taking orders in Hong Kong.
Sinopec Engineering Group Co. — the construction and engineering unit of China Petrochemical Corp. — was expected to sell shares in a price range nine to 12 times of projected 2013 earnings, according to Wall Street Journal figures.
At the same time, brokerage China Galaxy Securities Co. was planning to raise up to $1.36 billion U.S. in its own initial public offering, according to the Journal.
CHINA
The Greater China markets managed to keep their strong showing in the face of a downbeat result for HSBC’s services Purchasing Managers’ Index. The April PMI fell to 51.1 from March’s 54.3, confirming slowing growth seen in the government version of the services PMI, released Friday.
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 Index increased 33.07 points, or 1.3%, to 2,525.98
Chinese brokers also enjoyed gains, as Haitong Securities Co. rose 2.3% and China Everbright Ltd. added 4.4%. The sector got a boost late last week on news that the People’s Bank of China was set to allow foreign institutions greater access to the mainland Chinese stock markets.
In other markets;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index regained 12.39 points, or 0.4%, to 3.382.29
Taiwan’s Taiex Index marched ahead 34.02 points, or 0.4%, to 8,169.05
Korea’s Kospi Index dipped 4.23 points, or 0.2%, to 1,961.48
The New Zealand Exchange 50 hiked 51.91 points, or 1.1%, to 4,596.23
Australia’s S&P/ASX picked up 26.70 points, or 0.5%, to 5,156.20
