Japanese and Australian stocks ended higher to lead a broad advance in Asian markets Tuesday on optimism that Greece will be able to avert a disorderly default on national debt.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 average regained 70.67 points, or 0.7%, to 9,648.98
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 20.01 points, or 0.1%, to 22,061.80
Several banking and exporter shares were among the gainers.
The European country’s debt troubles, which have worried investors around the globe for months, remain in focus amid uncertainty about this week’s vote in the Greek parliament on austerity measures.
The region’s broad advance came in the wake of overnight gains on Wall Street and after French President Nicolas Sarkozy backed a plan to extend the maturity of Greek bonds due in coming years to share the burden of a new aid package with private investors.
Several banking stocks rose, with Westpac Banking Corp. gaining 1.7% in Sydney, heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC adding 0.4% in Hong Kong, KB Financial Group Inc adding 0.4% in Seoul and United Overseas Bank Ltd. up 0.7% in Singapore.
In Japan, many exporters finished higher, with Canon Inc. adding 0.8% and Fanuc Ltd. rising 2.6%.
Panasonic Corp. climbed 1.2% after the Nikkei reported that the firm will cut subsidiary Sanyo Electric Co.’s work force by more than 10,000 employees globally this year.
Nippon Steel Corp. climbed 2% on another report in the Nikkei that the steelmaker has agreed with Nissan Motor Co. to raise steel-sheet prices by 15%, and that its talks with Toyota Motor Co. were underway.
The two auto makers underperformed, with Nissan losing 2.4%, while Toyota rose 0.2%, less than the broad market.
In Hong Kong, shares of China Yurun Food Group Ltd. gave up 5.9%, on top of Monday’s 19.8% plunge, amid several media reports citing market speculation that research house Muddy Waters PLC, described in some reports as a short seller, may issue a report on the company.
Many stocks in the resources sector also rose in line with a bounce in some commodities after a weak streak recently.
PetroChina Co. climbed 1.4% in Hong Kong and Jiangxi Copper Co. added 0.7% in Shanghai.
In other markets;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index moved higher by 5.24 points, or 0.2%, to 3,041.73
Korea’s Kospi Index slipped 7.38 points, or 0.4%, to 2,062.91
Taiwan’s Taiex Index subtracted 21.30 points, or 0.3%, to 8,478.86
Singapore’s Straits Times Index eked up 2.51 points, or 0.1%, to 3,050.79
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index clung to a gain of 2.92 points, or 0.1%, to 3,441.01
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index improved 12.50 points, or 0.3%, to 4,474.30
