Most Asian markets climbed on Tuesday, overcoming the day’s choppy trading on optimism U.S. lawmakers would be able to reach an agreement to raise the nation’s debt ceiling before the looming Aug. 2 deadline.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 average recovered 47.41 points, or 0.5%, to 10,097.70
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index leaped 278.79 points, or 1.3%, to 22,572.10
The day’s broad regional gains came even after U.S. President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner gave back-to-back speeches which indicated little progress toward a deal.
Financial stocks in Asia were broadly higher, recouping some of their losses from the previous session. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. rose 1.8% in Tokyo, Macquarie Group Ltd. climbed 1.5% in Sydney, and Shinhan Financial Group Co. advanced 2.5% in Seoul.
The sector’s advance came even as some analysts noted the possibility that credit rating agencies might downgrade U.S. sovereign ratings.
President Obama said in an address to the nation Monday evening that should a downgrade occur, investors would wonder if the U.S. was a "good bet," although he added he was confident that a compromise would be reached in Congress before the deadline.
Speaking moments later, House Speaker John Boehner urged passage of a proposal from his Republican Party, and also warned of the consequences of a default.
Among other gainers, Japan’s Canon Inc. added 2.6% after raising its profit forecast for the fiscal year. Some other Japanese exporters also managed modest gains despite the U.S. dollar's fall against the yen, with Toyota Motor Corp. up 0.2%, and Honda Motor Co. adding 0.5%.
On the downside, shares of Tokyo Electric Power Co. declined 4.3% after a Nikkei report predicted a rise in fuel costs for power utilities this year. Chubu Electric Power Co. declined 1.1%.
Chinese banking and property names rose in Hong Kong as investors looked for bargains after Monday’s losses.
In the banking sector, shares of Bank of Communications Co. added 1.6%, and Bank of China Ltd. climbed 3.1% in Hong Kong; in Shanghai, Bank of Communications rose 0.2%, while Bank of China rose 0.3%.
Also, spurring the broader Hong Kong market, shares of heavyweight China Mobile Ltd. climbed 1.8%, extending gains recorded this month and riding expectations that the company may also offer Apple Inc.’s iPhone soon in the country.
But railway-sector stocks remained weak after a deadly pileup of two high speed rail (HSR) trains Saturday.
China Railway Construction Group Co. dropped 5%, although China Railway Group Co. managed to recover from early lows and end 2.6% higher; in Shanghai, the stocks dropped 0.9% and 1.1%, respectively.
In other markets
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index inched ahead 9.48 points, or 0.3%, to 2,977.77
Korea’s Kospi Index gained 18.22 points, or 0.9%, to 2,168.70
Taiwan’s Taiex Index advanced 110.73 points, or 1.3%, to 8,794.24
Singapore’s Straits Times Index picked up 15.02 points, or 0.5%, to 3,186.57
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index backpedaled 11.53 points, or 0.3%, to 3,416.62
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index regained 42.90 points, or 1%, to 4,573.30
