Another round of records got shattered throughout Asia on Tuesday, as investors' bullish mood shifted into high gear on the strength of upbeat outlooks announced by China's Ping An Insurance Group and Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton Ltd.
In Tokyo, Nikkei 225 index rose 38.39 points, or 0.21 percent, on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, to 18,002.03 while in Hong Kong, the blue chip Hang Seng Index advanced 0.5%, rising 107.32 points to a record 23,472.88.
Gainers included Toshiba Corp., which rose 0.52 percent to 1,160 yen (US$9.59), and Hitachi Ltd., which jumped 4.07 percent to 891 yen (US$7.36) after a Nikkei business newspaper reported Tuesday it has developed a boiler for coal-fired power plants that that can reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by half from the conventional type of boilers.
Hitachi spokesman Kesaku Shibatani later confirmed the Nikkei report, but said the specific figure for cutting emissions of air pollutants by the use of a new boiler wasn't immediately available.
Banks also advanced, with Mizuho Financial Group Inc. rising 2.15 percent to 857,000 yen (US$7,082.64).
ELSEWHERE:
SHANGHAI: The Shanghai Composite faded to end 0.1% lower at 4,210.33.
SINGAPORE: The Straits Times Index advanced 0.8 to 3,665.12.
TAIPEI: Taiwan's Weighted index gained 1.3% points a record 9744.06.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand's NZX 50 index added 0.5% to 4,321.29.
SYDNEY: The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% to 6,422.3.
With files from wire services
