Hong Kong stocks jumped Thursday as investors returned from a long Lunar New Year-holiday to cheer the Federal Reserve’s projection of ultra-low interest rates through late 2014.
The performance in other regional markets was less enthusiastic, however, with gains in South Korea tempered by weaker-than-expected economic growth data, while Japanese shares retreated from a near three-month high as investors locked in recent gains.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index faded 34.22 points, or 0.4%, to 8,849.47
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index returned after holidays with a flourish, gaining 328.77 points, or 1.6%, to 20,439.10, completing a five-session winning streak that began ahead of the holidays.
Stock markets in mainland China and Taiwan remained closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. Australian markets were also closed for a national holiday.
One observer said the local markets were likely to rise further, citing expectations for the European debt crisis to simmer down and for China to ease its monetary policy in the near future.
Stock gains were spread broadly in Hong Kong, with shares of trading and logistics firm Li & Fung Ltd. gaining 3.5% and Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. jumping 3.3%. Property and banking names also jumped, with Sino Land Co. climbing 4.8% and China Life Insurance Co. advancing 4.3%.
Shares of Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. climbed 4.5%, bolstered by Apple Inc.’s solid quarterly results earlier in the week. The company is a key supplier to the iPhone maker.
Heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC under-performed, finishing 0.8% higher after fluctuating between gains and losses.
The banking giant confirmed Wednesday that it is under a U.S. Senate panel investigation in connection with money laundering, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The lender is also seeking buyers for its Japanese consumer-banking unit, Bloomberg News reported.
In Japan, shares of Tokyo Electric Power Co. surged 5.5% following reports that a government-backed fund plans to inject one trillion yen ($12.9 billion U.S.) into the owner of the earthquake-and-tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant.
A Nikkei report said other lenders will offer a further ¥1 trillion in loans in June, bringing the total assistance to ¥2 trillion. Tepco will try to turn in a profit by the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2014, the report said.
Shares of KDDI Corp. rose 1.1% ahead of the quarterly earnings release later in the day.
But many exporters lost ground after recent advances. Shares of Elpida Memory Inc. lost 2.7%, Sony Corp. gave up 1.4%, and Canon Inc. shed 0.7%. Still, all three stocks remained in the positive territory for the week so far.
The decline in Elpida shares came as the chip maker began presenting a plan to form partnerships with U.S. firm Micron Technology Inc. and Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp. to its main lenders, according to a Nikkei newspaper report. The Micron and Nanya tie-up plans had been reported earlier in the week by the Yomiuri Shimbun.
The losses also came as the dollar dipped back below the ¥78 level it topped in U.S. trading Wednesday.
Shares of Fanuc Corp. fell 2% to give up some recent advances, although the machinery maker reported a 22% growth in net profit for the April-December period Wednesday. The stock is still up nearly 9% so far in January.
Gains in Seoul were muted after data showing the country’s gross domestic product grew 0.4% in the fourth quarter from the July-September period, missing estimates.
Shares of Shinhan Financial Group Co. added 1.5% and SK Telecom Co. rose 0.7%.
That helped offset losses caused by profit-taking in some exporters. Shares of Hyundai Motor Co. fell 2.1%, while Hynix Semiconductor Inc. dropped 1.5%.
In other markets;
Markets in Sydney, Shanghai and Taiwan had the day off
Korea’s Kospi Index edged up 4.95 points, or 0.3%, to 1,957.18
Singapore’s Straits Times Index took on 2.79 points, or 0.1%, to 2,894.43
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index inched ahead 1.57 points to 3,281.68
