Japanese stocks extended their upward campaign early Tuesday after rising hopes for a Greek bailout deal triggered a European relief rally and solid gains in the U.S.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index climbed 381.23 points, or 1.9%, to 20,809.42
A slightly weaker yen also supported the advance, with the U.S. dollar changing hands for ¥123.41, bouncing back from its ¥122.90 level at the previous Tokyo stock close.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index jumped 252.61 points, or 0.9%, to 27,333.46
Among blue chips on the rise were Casio Computer Co. (up 2.4%), Nintendo Co. (up 3.1%), Honda Motor Co. (up 1.7%), Mizuho Financial Group Inc. (3.8%) ansd Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. (up 4%). Shares of Sony Corp. rose 1.3% as the company said it would begin selling a new PlayStation four-game console with a massive one terabyte of storage. Stock in Softbank Corp. added 2.1% amid news of its plans to launch a solar-power joint venture in India with about $20 billion U.S.
Among the retailers, FamilyMart Co. lagged the market with a 0.4% gain despite a Nikkei report saying the convenience-store operator would post a roughly 20% gain in March-May operating profit. On the downside, Toshiba Corp. dropped 0.4% as a separate Nikkei report said the company's accounting problems were found to extend to units beyond its infrastructure group and is expected to take a $444-million U.S. bite out of its profit.
In Hong Kong, Bank of China Ltd. jumped 2.5% after it said in a statement that it hasn't received any official indictment document from Italy prosecutors in connection with a reported money-laundering probe involving its Milan branch, although the bank confirmed it coopoerated with the Italian investigation in 2012.
China Merchants Bank Co. also climbed 2.4%, with the lender announcing Monday night its first employee stock-incentive plan, selling as many as 434.8 million Shanghai-listed shares to employees. Other Chinese banks also gained substantially, as Bank of Communications Co. advanced 2.3%, China Minsheng Banking Corp. rose 2%, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. improved by 1.7%, Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. tacked on 1.5%, and China Construction Bank Corp. traded 1% higher.
CHINA
Stocks in China rebounded from their worst weekly selloff since 2008 on Tuesday, after Shanghai slid earlier in the day as investors who have borrowed heavily sold shares to meet loan requirements.
In China, the CSI 300 was up 149.04 points, or 3.2%, to 4,786.09
That helped regain some ground after a 13% decline last week, with the market dropping 6.5% last Friday alone.
The volatility follows heavy declines in certain stocks, which triggered margin calls, according to analysts. Brokerages issue such calls to investors who have borrowed money from them, when stocks held by the investor — effectively collateral for the loan — fall below a certain threshold.
Margin trading is starting to show early signs of easing off, as Chinese regulators rein in the practice, which has helped fuel a bubble in the country’s stock market. Margin loans soared to a record 2.273 trillion yuan ($366 billion U.S.) last Thursday before falling slightly to 2.266 trillion yuan on Friday, according to the latest data by provider WIND Info.
Analysts also attributed recent losses to worries about tighter liquidity in the market. Investors have withdrawn funds from existing shares to buy up new initial public offerings. IPOs are expected to have locked up seven billion yuan ($1.13 billion U.S.) in funds this month, up from 4.8 billion yuan last month, according to WIND Info.
In other markets
The Taiex index in Taiwan added 49.37 points, or 0.5%, to 9.391.14
In Korea, the Kospi index gained 26.04 points, or 1.3%, to 2,081.20
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gained 24.65 points, or 0.7%, to 3,339.78
The NZX 50 eked up 0.08 points to 5,772.13
The ASX 200 Index moved up 74.12 points, or 1.3%, to 5,684.29
