Asian stocks rode higher Monday as upbeat U.S. manufacturing data and a further easing of concerns over Greece pushed investors to prolong last week’s relief rally, with several exporters and financial shares driving the gains.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 average improved 97.02 points, or 1%, to 9,965.09, having briefly scaled the 10,000 level during the session -- with some analysts citing optimism over the nation’s economic recovery during the current quarter from the brunt of the March 11 natural disasters.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index marched forward 372.37 points, or 1.7%, to 22,770.50
One expert said that stocks were playing catchup with global markets after Friday’s holiday in Hong Kong. Concern from international investors over recent reports of problems with auditing and governance at some private Chinese companies were likely limiting the size of the gains, he added.
Several automobile and technology exporters raced ahead during the session. Among Tokyo-listed car makers, Honda Motor Co. climbed 3.5%, and Toyota Motor Corp. gained 1.5%, while in Seoul, Kia Motors Corp. advanced 1.2%.
Among technology firms, Samsung Electronics Co. soared 2.7% in Seoul, Lenovo Group Ltd. gained 4.3% in Hong Kong, Nanya Technology Corp. spiked 6.9% and ProMOS Technologies Inc. surged 5.6% in Taipei, and Advantest Corp. gained 1.6% in Tokyo.
The rally followed a strong performance for U.S. equity markets on Friday, when a better-than-expected ISM reading sparked optimism on the state of U.S. manufacturing. The U.S. is a major export market for Asia.
Financial stocks rallied across Asia, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. up 2.8% in Tokyo, and Macquarie Group Ltd. up 1.2% in Sydney.
HSBC Holdings PLC added 1.6% in Hong Kong, while Bank of China Ltd. rose 2.1% in Hong Kong and 1% in Shanghai.
Other sharp gainers in Asia included Japan’s Bridgestone Corp., which advanced 2.8% after announcing that it will hike prices for some of its heavy-vehicle tires.
Australian airlines were also trading sharply higher, with Qantas Airways Ltd up 6.5% and Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd. soaring 10.5%. The gains followed the grounding of the Australian fleet of Singapore-based low-cost carrier Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd.
Shares of Tiger Airways plunged 14.7% in Singapore afternoon trading.
The Australian market came off its early highs after seasonally adjusted retail sales declined 0.6% in May, falling way short of expectations.
But Stuart Smith, a senior client adviser at Bell Potter Securities in Brisbane, said that while the market had come off the day’s lows on the back of the data and caution ahead of the U.S. holiday Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 held "reasonable value" to help it climb to 5,200 by the end of the year.
In other markets;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index gained 72.23 points, or 2.4%, to 3,121.98
Korea’s Kospi Index progressed 19.56 points, or 0.9%, to 2,145.30
Taiwan’s Taiex Index added 34.90 points, or 0.4%, to 8,774.72
Singapore’s Straits Times Index moved up 14.43 points, or 0.5%, to 3,153.44
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index nipped up 3.49 points, or 0.1%, to 3,478.49
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index tacked on 19.50 points, or 0.4%, to 4,610.70
