Markets across Asia posted strong gains virtually across the board Monday, with exporters back in the lead in Tokyo after the dollar rose against Japan's yen and with financials such as Commonwealth Bank fronting gainers in Sydney on hopes that the global credit crunch may be showing signs of ebbing.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock index rose 1.6 per cent to 13,696.5. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 2.2 per cent to 24,721.7. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7 per cent to 3,117.0 after surging nearly 7 per cent in early trading.
In Tokyo trading, automotive shares made a sizable advance, with Honda Motor Co. climbing 8.8%, and Toyota Motor Corp. rising 5.1%.
Shares of Isuzu Motors Ltd. climbed 2.2%. A Nikkei newspaper report said that the automaker plans to launch a truck assembly line in Saudi Arabia beginning early next year.
Other export-oriented shares on the rise included Canon Inc., up 6%, and Sony Corp., up 5.7%.
In addition, NEC Corp. saw its shares jump 7.3%, after the company on Friday lifted the outlook for the recently ended fiscal year for operating profit at its microchip unit.
Elsewhere:
Australia's S&P ASX climbed 3.1%.
South Korea's Kospi added 1.6%.
New Zealand's NZX-50 climbed 1%.
India's Sensitive index added 1.6%.
Singapore's Straits Times Index was up 1.5%.
Malaysia's KLSE Composite tacked on 1%.
Taiwan's Weighted Price Index edged up 0.1%.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite fell 0.6%.
Thailand's shares ended lower on the day, with the SET index falling back 0.3%.
with files from other wire services
