Asian stocks rallied on Wednesday, with HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank advancing strongly in Hong Kong. PetroChina, the world's largest oil company by market value, led the oil sector higher in a rocket-like advance.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 2 percent to close at 12,829.06 after tumbling 9.3 percent the previous two days. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index surged 10.7 percent — its biggest gain 10 years - to 24,090.17.
In Tokyo -- the recovery was broad-based, with banking major Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group gaining 3.9% and Nintendo Co. adding 8.1%, to lead exporter stocks. Nintendo's gains were helped by a news service report that sales of its Wii game consoles topped five million since its launch in December 2006.
ELSEWERE:
South Korea's Kospi index added 1.2% to 1,628.42.
India's Sensitive Index was up 5.8% to 17,700.86 in late trading.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose for the first time in 13 trading days, adding 4.4% to 5,412.80.
New Zealand's NZX 50 index added 0.2% at 3,615.30 after declining in the previous 14 sessions.
Taiwan's Weighted index ranked as one of the few regional losers, shedding 2.3%% to 7,408.40.
Singapore's Straits Times Index was up 117.07 points, or roughly 4%, to 2,983.62.
Thailand's SET Index added 0.4% to 744,64.
with files from other wire services
