A sharp and sudden rebound for Chinese stocks in afternoon trading boosted major Asian markets Wednesday, helping them overcome disappointment after Eurogroup leaders failed to agree on conditions to release the next tranche of financial aid to Greece.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index regained 79.88 points, or 0.9%, to 9,222.52
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index hiked 296.08 points, or 1.4%, to 21,524.36
Japanese shares had let most of its early gains slip away and South Korean stocks reversed their advance following the Eurogroup’s announcement, around noon in Hong Kong. But they managed to recover somewhat.
In Hong Kong, China Construction Bank Corp. rose 3.4% and foods company Want Want China Holdings Ltd. gained 2.8%.
Shares of heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC climbed 1.3%, after The Wall Street Journal reported that the lender was in talks with China’s sovereign-wealth fun to sell its stake in Ping An Insurance Group Co.
Ping An, which had dropped in the last two trading sessions amid concerns about the possible sale, advanced 0.8%.
In Tokyo, exporters gained on the back of the yen’s recent weakness against major currencies. Toyota Motor Corp. climbed 2.3%, Tokyo Electron Ltd. added 1.2% and industrial robot maker Fanuc Corp. rose 1%.
In data released 10 minutes ahead of the stock-market open, Japan’s Finance Ministry reported a 6.5% year-on-year drop in exports, fueled by another tumble in shipments to China, amid tensions between the two nations.
In Seoul, KB Financial Group Inc. fell 1.6% and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. dropped 1%. In Taipei, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. lost 0.9%, and Nanya Technology Corp. dropped 2.3%.
And in Sydney, an almost 3% drop in benchmark U.S. crude-oil futures overnight weighed on energy shares.
Woodside Petroleum Ltd. lost 0.9% and Santos Ltd. retreated 2.4%.
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 Composite Index got a boost of 30.02 points, or 1.4%, to 2,194.90
The recovery in Shanghai also helped some other regional markets pare losses or recover gains in the wake of news that the euro-zone’s financial ministers and the International Monetary Fund weren’t able to reach an agreement on the conditions under which they will disburse the next installment of financial aid to Greece.
Gains in Shanghai were spread across sectors, with Shanghai Industrial Development Co. jumping by the day’s 10% limit, shipping firm China Cosco Holdings Ltd. rising 7.6% and Haitong Securities Co. gaining 3.6%.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index eked up 1.48 points to 2,960.30
Korea’s Kospi index settled 6.14 points, or 0.3%, to 1,884.04
Taiwan’s Taiex Index fell 57.28 points, or 0.8%, to 7,130.07
New Zealand’s NZX 50 eased 1.74 points to 3,971.23
Australia’s ASX Index subtracted 16.18 points, or 0.4%, to 4,369.50
