Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese stocks led most Asian markets higher Thursday on relief buying after a string of weak performances, although Hong Kong shares suffered a late retreat amid lingering worries over Greece.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index regained 75.42 points, or 0.9%, to 8,876.57
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong shaved off 58.90 points, or 0.3%, to 19,200.93
The broad gains came a day after heavy Greece-inspired sell-down that saw South Korean, Australian and Hong Kong stocks put in their worst one-day performance of the year.
Many of the major bourses seesawed in morning trade, before finding upward momentum in the afternoon.
Political developments in Europe have kept global equity investors sidelined this week, with Greece now headed back to the polls in June for an election which may eventually lead to its exit from the euro-zone.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Wednesday the European Central Bank "strongly prefers" that Greece stay in the euro-zone. But reports out earlier in the day that the European Central Bank has shut out some Greek banks from its regular financing operations, triggered fears “that the E.C.B. was reducing its support to Greece,” according to BNP Paribas strategists.
After suffering sharp losses of late against the backdrop of the European crisis, several regional exporters and resource stocks advanced during the session.
In Tokyo, Honda Motor Co. rose 2.3%, paring the firm’s week-to-date losses to 3.3%, while Sony Corp. jumped 3.9% to return to weekly gains at the day’s close.
In Seoul, SK Hynix Inc. spiked 6.3%, narrowing week-to-date losses to 3.5%, while LG Display Co.’s 3.2% gain Thursday brought the firm’s losses to 6.8% so far this week.
Several financial, transportation and real estate stocks climbed on mainland Chinese bourses, with China Life Insurance Co. rising 2.7%, Poly Real Estate Group Co. gaining 1.8%, SAIC Motor Corp. rising 2.3% and Air China Ltd. advancing 3%.
While both gold and oil futures settled U.S. trade Wednesday at their lowest levels so far in 2012, investors also bought back into some battered resource firms Thursday as commodity futures recovered a touch in electronic trading.
Japanese steel makers were also higher, as JFE Holdings Inc. gained 5.5% and Nippon Steel Corp. advanced 3.9%. The steel names got a boost as data out before the start of trading showed better-than-expected first-quarter economic growth in Japan.
The Australian mining sector also rose, with BHP Billiton Ltd. up 0.9%, paring week-to-date losses to 4.7%, while PanAust Ltd. gained 2.6%.
However, Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell 1.5% in Sydney, as the nation’s largest bank reported a 3% rise in adjusted third quarter profit, missing the median forecast from a Dow Jones Newswires survey.
Other Australian-listed banks were also losing ground, with Westpac Banking Corp. down 2.1%, and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. lower by 0.2%.
CHINA
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Composite Index moved forward 39.30 points, or 1.5%, to 2,613.94
Several financial, transportation and real estate stocks climbed on mainland Chinese bourses, with China Life Insurance Co. rising 2.7%, Poly Real Estate Group Co. gaining 1.8%, SAIC Motor Corp. rising 2.3% and Air China Ltd. advancing 3%.
Cnooc Ltd. rose 0.9% in Hong Kong, while Zijin Mining Group Co. climbed 1.7% in Hong Kong and 1.2% in Shanghai.
In other markets;
Singapore's Straits Times Index shed 8.54 points, or 0.3%, to 2,822.61
Korea’s Kospi Index grew 4.71 points, or 0.3%, to 1,845.24
Taiwan’s Taiex Index sprinted ahead 122.20 points, or 1.7%, to 7,356.77
New Zealand’s NXZ Index picked up seven points, or 0.2%, to 3,521.51
Australia’s ASX Index doffed 8.12 points, or 0.2%, to 4,157.41
