Asian stocks were bolstered Wednesday by eased concerns about Spanish debt and solid gains on Wall Street, with technology, commodity and banking shares leading the charge.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index soared 202.55 points, or 2.1%, to 9,667.26, with the yen’s pullback underpinning exporter stocks.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index recaptured 218.42 points, or 1.1%, to 20,780.70
The rally tracked gains for European and U.S. stocks Tuesday, as investors welcomed strong demand at a Spanish bond auction as well as a surprise increase in a German economic-sentiment indicator.
Several financial and commodity sector stocks ranked among the day’s big gainers.
Banking major Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. rallied 2.9% in Tokyo, Macquarie Group Ltd. climbed 2.2% in Sydney, HSBC Holdings PLC rose 1.9% in Hong Kong and Samsung Securities Co. advanced 2.2% in Seoul.
Among resource stocks, steel maker JFE Holdings Inc. jumped 3% and Pacific Metals Co. spiked 5% in Tokyo, energy major Cnooc Ltd. rallied 3.3% in Hong Kong, while gold miner Zijn Mining Group Co. climbed 1.7% in Hong Kong and 3.1% in Shanghai.
In Sydney, mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd. jumped 2.8% after reporting a 14% increase in third-quarter iron ore production compared to the same period a year ago.
Japanese exporters rallied as the yen weakened against the dollar and the euro. Nissan Motor Co. jumped 4.2%, while Honda Motor Co. added 3.9%.
In Tokyo, Canon Inc. rose 3.2%, and Toshiba Corp. gained 2.7%, while Samsung Electronics Co. jumped 3.5% in Seoul.
Rio Tinto Ltd., which reported production data Tuesday, gained 2.9%.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 Index gained 58.02 points, or 2.3%, to 2,599.21
Property developers rose strongly on mainland Chinese bourses amid persistent hopes for policy support from Beijing, with Poly Real Estate Group Co. jumping 4.7% in Shanghai, and China Vanke Co. gaining 3.2% in Shenzhen.
But shares of many mainland developers traded in Hong Kong declined after data showed home prices fell in March in a majority of the cities surveyed by the National Bureau of Statistics.
China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. slipped 0.1%, while China Resources Land Ltd. dropped 1.6%.
In other markets;
Korea’s Kospi Index added 19.23 points, or 1%, to 2,004.53
The Taiex index in Taiwan gained back 19.13 points, or 0.3%, to 7,605
Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 13.99 points, or 0.5%, to 3,000.58
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index picked up 42.22 points, or 1.2%, to 3,522.76
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rocketed up 59.88 points, or 1.4%, to 4,348.66
