Asian stocks rose broadly on Wednesday, taking their cue from stronger U.S. stocks overnight.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 34.43 points, or 0.2%, to 14,670.95, marking the fifth consecutive session of gains, while the U.S. dollar weakened against the yen, buying ¥101.874 compared with ¥101.975 on Tuesday.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rocketed 135.73 points, or 0.6%, to 23,080.03
In Japan, top gainers included semiconductor maker Renesas Electronics Corp., which jumped 4.9%. Construction firm Obayashi Corp. climbed 3.4%, rival Kajima Corp. gained 2.5%, and consumer electronics giant Toshiba Corp. moved up 2%.
However, Mitsui Fudosan Co., one of Japan’s largest property developers, sank 4.7%, after the firm announced a plan to sell as many as 110 million shares to raise around 325 billion yen ($3.2 billion U.S).
In Hong Kong, Chinese insurers and banks were strong, as China Life Insurance rallied 3%, China Merchants Bank rose 1.7%, ICBC added 1.6%, and Agricultural Bank of China tacked on 1.5%.
CHINA
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Composite recovered 21.98 points, or 1%, to 2,169.35
China released its monthly report on industrial profit, covering the largest firms, and the numbers show earnings rose 1.1% in April. Compared with a year earlier, profit was 9.6% higher last month, though that marked a slowing from March’s 10.7%.
Much of the profit data are reported on a year-to-date basis, and the January-April figure was 10% higher from a year earlier, undershooting the 12.2% gain for all of 2013.
In other markets;
Taiwan’s Taiex Index added 66.42 points, or 0.7%, to 9,121.71
Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 2.22 points, or 0.1%, to 3,271.84
Korea’s Kospi index regained 19.43 points, or 1%, to 2,017.06
New Zealand NZX 50 index gained 35.61 points, or 0.7%, to 5,181.46
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 improved 15.48 points, or 0.3%, to 5,527.18
