Several Asian markets rebounded from their early lows Wednesday as investors hunted for bargains in recently beaten-down stocks such as Toyota Motor Corp. in Tokyo and Infosys Technologies in Mumbai, while property counters such as Cheung Kong Holdings found favor in Hong Kong on expectations of an interest rate cut.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index rose for a second day, climbing 70.49 points, or 0.49 percent, to finish at 14,599.16 points. But traders see limited room for further gains.
In Hong Kong, the market was lifted by property stocks on expectations of deeper interest rate cuts and bargain-hunting in China-related shares. The blue chip Hang Seng Index gained 502.95 points, or 1.86 percent, to 27,615.85, erasing some of the previous day's losses.
Winners included drug makers Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., which rose 3 percent. Semiconductor makers were among the losers, with Kyocera Corp. shedding 2 percent.
ELSEWHERE:
BANGKOK: Thailand's main stock index rose 1.1 percent to 820.5.
JAKARTA: Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta stock index rose 1.6 percent to a record close at 2,830.3. The bearish trend in most global markets has failed to hurt local sentiment over a positive outlook for the Indonesian economy in 2008. The market will be closed Thursday and Friday for public holidays.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Composite Index rose 0.1 percent to a record close of 1,491.7, led by gains in property stocks, blue chips and government-linked companies. The market will be closed Thursday for a public holiday.
MANILA: Philippine shares slid, but buying in bank and property stocks trimmed bigger losses early in the session. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index lost 4.5 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 3,416.1, after touching an early low of 3,387.1.
SEOUL: South Korean shares recovered from an early fall, with chipmakers rising on stabilizing chip prices and brokerage names rallying on merger and acquisition speculation. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index ended 1 percent higher at 1,844.5.
SHANGHAI: China shares rose as investors bought pharmaceuticals and chemicals makers. he benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.9 percent to 5,435.8 points. The Shenzhen Composite Index for the country's smaller second market rose 2.3 percent to 1539.6.
SINGAPORE: Singapore shares rose, tracking rebounds in major Asian bourses as bargain-hunting outweighed the poor showing by Wall Street. The Straits Times Index rose 0.2 percent to close at 3,344.5.
TAIPEI: Taiwan shares rose on the strength of electronics and China-related shares. The Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange gained 1.5 percent to finish at 8,085.1.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand stocks fell on weakness in offshore markets and a lack of local corporate news. The NZX 50 dropped 0.4 percent to 3,912.2.
SYDNEY: Australian shares dropped for a third day after Wall Street was pummeled by weak home sales, rumors Countrywide Financial Corp. would go bankrupt and cautious comments from AT&T. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7 percent to 6,087.7.
with files from other wire services
