Asian markets closed mostly higher Wednesday, led by shares of energy and commodity companies, with stocks in both Japan and China staging sharp turnarounds at the end of the day and as India stocks headed toward their first drop in more than a week.
The Nikkei 225 stock index rose 0.23 per cent to 13,579.2. The Hang Seng rose 1.4 per cent to 25,289.2. And the Shanghai Composite Index jumped 4.2 per cent to 3,278.3, its third consecutive gain.
In Tokyo, shares of Nomura Holdings dropped 1.7% on a Nikkei business daily report an employee of its securities unit was arrested by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Tuesday for alleged insider trading.
Shares in Nippon Oil Corp., Japan's biggest refiner, rose 7.4 per cent, and rival Idemitsu Kosan Co. jumped 10.7 per cent.
But in China and Hong Kong, Chinese oil companies jumped as well after PetroChina said earlier in the week that it would receive a government subsidy and get a full refund on value-added tax on oil imports to compensate it for ballooning refining losses.
Chinese refiners have been buffeted by the run-up in international oil prices because domestic price controls have kept them from passing their increased costs to customers.
PetroChina's Hong Kong shares rose 4.8 per cent on Wednesday and have gained 12 per cent since Monday. PetroChina rose 3.2 per cent on its Shanghai listing.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, rose 3.8 per cent in Hong Kong and 0.7 per cent in Shanghai.
Elsewhere:
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index gained 1.6% to 5,652.90.
South Korea's Kospi added 0.7% to 1,800.79.
New Zealand's NZX 50 index gained 0.7% to 3,608.47.
Taiwan's Weighted index slipped 0.3% to 9,008.49.
with files from other wire services
