Asia stocks gained strongly in a broad-based Friday, as fresh optimism that Europe is ramping up efforts to shore up its financial system and prevent another global banking crisis boosted investor appetite for equities.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Index jumped 83.60 points, or 1%, to 8,605.62
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rebounded 534.73 points, or 3.1%, to 17,707.00
Asia’s climb on Friday followed a strong performance for U.S. stocks Thursday after the release of better-than-forecast unemployment-claims data on a day when the Bank of England and the European Central Bank announced new easing measures.
The ECB said that it would buy an extra 40 billion euros ($53.7 billion U.S.) of covered bonds from banks and would continue to provide unlimited three-month liquidity to the region’s banks at least until July next year.
Asian bank-sector stocks were notable gainers Friday. Worries about the global banking system undergoing a similar meltdown to that of 2008 had kept the sector under selling pressure during much of the past few months.
HSBC Holdings PLC rallied 3.9%, and Bank of China Ltd. climbed 4.3% in Hong Kong.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. rose 0.6% and Nomura Holdings Inc. climbed 1.1% in Tokyo, while Korea Exchange Bank surged 6.5% in Seoul.
National Australia Bank Ltd. was up 3.9%, while Westpac Banking Corp. improved by 2.5% in Sydney.
Exporters were also gaining, as signs of banking-sector relief fed into hope that the global economy will escape recession.
In Japan, Nissan Motor Co. climbed 2.2% and Citizen Holdings Co. added 3.7%.
Li & Fung Ltd. jumped 7.6%, and Esprit Holdings Ltd. rallied 8.5% in Hong Kong.
Commodity-related firms rallied after gains for oil futures in New York on Thursday, also amid hopes of sustained demand. Cnooc Ltd. traded 4.4% higher, and China Coal Energy Ltd. rose 6.2% in Hong Kong.
BHP Billiton Ltd. added 2.5%, and Rio Tinto Ltd. climbed 4.9% in Sydney.
In the technology sector, Samsung Electronics Co. traded flat, paring early gains.
The Korean consumer electronics giant said that it expects third-quarter operating profit to fall 3.6% to 4.2 trillion Korean won ($3.5 billion U.S.) compared to the year-ago period, following weak demand for flat panels and computer chips.
LG Electronics Inc. also underperformed the broader market, trading down 0.1% in Seoul.
Sony Corp. fell 3.7% in Tokyo. The firm is close to buying the rest of mobile-phone venture Sony Ericsson from 50:50 partner LM Ericsson, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
In other markets;
Markets in mainland Chinese remained closed for a week-long holiday.
Taiwan’s Taiex Index progressed 79.96 points, or 1.1%, to 7,211.96
Korea’s Kospi grew 49.45 points, or 2.9%, to 1,759.77
Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 37.18 points, or 1.4%, to 2,640.30
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index moved higher by 37.43 points, or 1.1%, to 3,383.64
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index prospered 93 points, or 2.3%, to 4,162.90.
