Japanese stocks soared Wednesday on a weakened yen and news some firms will soon restart production at plants affected by the devastating earthquake and tsunami, while solid results from Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and other corporations boosted Hong Kong shares.
The Nikkei 225 Index regained 249.71 points, or 2.6%, to 9,708.79. Market sentiment remained cautious, however, amid ongoing struggles to contain radiation leaks from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power facility.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index recovered 391.07 points, or 1.7%, to 23,451.40
Supported by the yen’s fall against the U.S. dollar and the euro, shares of exporters advanced. Honda Motor Co. rose 2.1% and Advantest Corp. gained 3.4%.
Hitachi Ltd. jumped 8.7% on news it expected its Chiba Prefecture plant to return to full production some time in April, and operations at a plant in Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo, to return to full production next week. Nissan Motor Co. climbed 3.8% on news the company will restart some manufacturing at its Iwaki engine plant in Fukushima from mid-April.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., which owns the Fukushima nuclear plant, plunged another 17.7% during the session, taking losses so far this month to 78%.
Agricultural Bank of China’s Hong Kong-listed stock rose 2.7%, adding to broad gains there driven by conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa and property major Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd. after both posted stronger-than-expected fiscal-year results the previous day. Hutchison climbed 5.1% and Cheung Kong added 4%.
Australian shares got a lift from the mining sector after metal prices rose Tuesday, although analysts remained wary.
BHP Billiton Ltd. rose 2% and Rio Tinto Ltd. advanced 2.4%.
Shares of Qantas Airways Ltd. climbed 1.9% after the carrier said it will cut flights to disaster-hit Japan and New Zealand, and lay off management staff in response to weakened demand in those countries, as well as higher jet-fuel costs.
In foreign-exchange trade, the U.S. dollar climbed to ¥83.04 from ¥82.48 in New York late Tuesday, and to 1.4109 against the euro from 1.4113. The rise came on Dallas Fed President Fisher’s comments, as well as remarks from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard that U.S. monetary policy couldn’t stay loose indefinitely.
The Australian dollar, meanwhile, climbed as high as $1.03325 U.S. and was recently at $1.03128 U.S.
CHINA
The Communist nation, among the best performing regional benchmarks so far in 2011, skipped the day’s rally
The Shanghai CSI 300 Index gave back 1.90 points, to 3,256.08. Some real estate and coal stocks lost ground amid modest trading volumes, to give up some of their strong gains recently.
Poly Real Estate Group Co. dropped 2.8% and Gemdale Corp. gave up 1.6%, while Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. dropped 1.1%.
Shares of Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. proved one exception, rising 0.4% a day after the lender reported a 46% jump in its 2010 net profit, beating estimates and earning Goldman Sachs’s rating upgrade to buy from hold.
In other markets;
Taiwan’s Taiex Index advanced 49.74 points, or 0.6%, to 8,646.31
Korea’s Kospi Index gained 19.25 points, or 0.9%, to 2,091.38
Singapore’s Straits Times Index picked up 38.37 points, or 1.3%, to 3,095.32
New Zealand’s NZX 50 improved another 11.97 points, or 0.4%, to 3,433.16
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 moved forward 66.40 points, or 1.4%, to 4,822.20
