Asia markets rose Wednesday, with sentiment helped by optimism for a Greek debt deal, and with an upbeat outlook from Toyota Motor Corp. supporting car-maker shares in Tokyo.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index revived 98.07 points, or 1.1%, to 9,015.59
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index reacquired 319.27 points, or 1.5%, to 21,018.50.
Greek politicians reportedly neared an agreement Tuesday on reforms needed to secure fresh bailout funds and avoid a chaotic default, with hopes of a resolution fuelling modest gains for U.S. stocks.
Talks between leaders were due to resume Wednesday, while protests against fresh austerity measures simmered in the debt-stricken nation
Property firms were among the gainers in Hong Kong, after China’s central bank said it planned measures to help first-time home buyers.
China Resources Land Ltd. climbed 3.1%, China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. rose 5.3%, and Agile Property Holdings Ltd. jumped 4.2%.
Toyota rallied 5% after the car giant reported a fall in quarterly profit late Tuesday but also raised its full-year earnings target.
Other Japanese auto majors followed Toyota higher: Mazda Motor Corp. surged 7.3%, Honda Motor Co. added 2.7%, and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. gained 3.2%.
Fujitsu Ltd. jumped 2.9% after a Nikkei business daily report that the it, Panasonic Corp. and Renesas Electronics Corp., were in talks to merge their system-chip operations.
Shares in Panasonic rose 3.3%, while Renesas surged 10.1%.
A separate Nikkei report said Elpida Memory Inc. may offshore its low-end DRAM chip production to Taiwan, sending Elpida stock up 9.4%.
Korea’s key shipbuilding sector extended recent strength in Seoul. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. added 5.5%, while Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. rose 6.3% and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. put on 5.4%.
In Sydney, index heavyweight BHP Billiton Ltd. slightly missed analyst expectations with its $9.9-billion U.S. first-half profit. Shares traded down 0.4%.
Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. advanced 3.2% after regulators in Western Australia gave conditional approval for the proposed expansion of the Cloudbreak iron-ore mine in the Pilbara region.
Also in Australia, Macquarie Group Ltd. recovered from the previous session’s losses, with shares climbing 3.1%, after the investment bank forecast a sharp fall in annual profit but also unveiled a new stock buy-back program.
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 regained 70.28 points, or 2.9%, to 2,528.24.
Energy stocks also gained ground. Chinese refining majors PetroChina Co. rose 2.2% and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, traded up 1.8% after China’s government announced retail price hikes for gasoline and diesel.
In other markets;
Taiwan’s Taiex Index hiked 162.47 points, or 2.1%, to 7,869.91
Korea’s Kospi Index gained 22.14 points, or 1.1%, to 2,003.73
Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 24.42 points, or 0.8%, to 2,982.20
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index forged ahead 9.52 points, or 0.3%, to 3,324.67
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index jumped 16.50 points, or 0.4%, to 4,290.70
