Hong Kong stocks led a strong advance for Asian markets Tuesday, as investors looked toward the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Chinese government for signs they will loosen their respective monetary policies further.
The rally came with U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke due to start two days of testimony before the Congress later in the global trading day.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index returned from a long weekend to gain 30.88 points, or 0.4%, to 8,755.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong vaulted 333.99 points, or 1.8%, to 19,455.33
Property developers and energy sector shares were the big beneficiaries of easing expectations. Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd. jumped 4.2% and Sino Land Co. gained 3.5%, while oil major Cnooc Ltd. climbed 3.2%.
Railway railway stocks jumped in Hong Kong and Shanghai after Bloomberg News reported that China’s railway infrastructure investment may double in the second-half of this year from the first six months.
Shares of China Railway Construction Corp. gained 4% and China Railway Group Ltd. surged 5.9% in Hong Kong; in Shanghai, they climbed 3.1% and 2.3%, respectively.
The upbeat tone sent HSBC Holdings PLC stock 1.3% higher despite a U.S. Senate statement late Monday, accusing HSBC of doing little to stop money laundering through its banks.
Meanwhile, banks also advanced in Sydney after policy-meeting minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia reflected a more positive tone on the Australian economy.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 1.6% and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. climbed 1.7%.
On the downside, Rio Tinto Ltd. eased 0.1% after the Anglo-Australian mining firm reported that its attributable second-quarter iron-ore production slipped to 48.6 million tons from 48.9 million tons in the year-ago period.
In Seoul, Hyundai Motor Co. lost 2.4%, while affiliate Kia Motors Corp. fell 0.8%, after their labour unions said late Monday they were planning to extend recent strikes.
Hyundai Motor was also trading after reports of a block sale of a 1.45% interest in the company by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Hyundai Heavy shares rose 0.9%.
Utilities moved sharply lower in Japan. Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco plunged 11.5% after a Nikkei news report that the government would cap its planned electricity-rate increase, while Kansai Electric Power Co. tumbled 7.2%.
Tokyo saw a massive rally against nuclear power on Monday, following the recent restart of a nuclear reactor in Western Japan — the first since the country shut down its nuclear power stations in the wake of last year’s disaster at Tepco’s Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
In other markets
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index regained 14.47 points, or 0.6%, to 2,414.20
Korea’s Kospi Index gained 4.17 points, or 0.2%, to 1,821.96
Singapore's Straits Times Index grew 16.05 points, or 0.5%, to 3,014.80
Taiwan’s Taiex Index added 36.96 points, or 0.5%, to 7,127
New Zealand’s NZX index eked ahead 1.53 points to 3,468.86
Australia’s ASX Index advanced 35.70 points, or 0.9%, to 4,140.80
