Asian markets rebounded strongly Wednesday, as exporters such as Nintendo Co. and banks such as HSBC Holdings advanced on the back of Wall Street gains. Investors also snapped up airline and steel stocks as worries about inflation abated on a pullback in crude-oil prices.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 208.34 points or 1.58% at 13,367 while the Hang Seng Index broke a four-session losing streak to finish 1.9% higher at 22,690.60.
On the economic front, government data showed that Japanese industrial output fell 2.0% on month in June, marking the first drop in two months. Industrial output rose 2.8% on month in May following a 0.2% slide in April, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said. Additionally, manufacturers polled expect that their output will fall 0.2% on month in July, and decrease 0.6% in August.
Meanwhile, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said that Japanese auto production increased 4.5% in June from the previous year. In May, vehicle production posted an annual growth of 6.8%. Automobile production in June totaled 1.03 million units compared to 990,114 units in the prior year. Meanwhile, domestic sales dropped 3.3% to 446,990 vehicles. During the first half of 2008, auto production showed 6% growth on an annual basis. Production rose to 6.05 million units from 5.71 million units produced in the first half of 2007.
Among banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group advanced 1.7%, Mizuho Financial Group gained 1.9% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group rose 2.0%. Top brokerage Nomura Holdings jumped 3.6% and general leasing firm Orix rose 2.9%.
Matsushita Electric Industrial surged 5.5% after the company posted a 48% increase in it second quarter operating profit on brisk sales of its flat TVs and digital cameras. Advantest climbed 2.8% and Tokyo Electron moved up 2.9%.
Taisho Pharmaceutical soared 9.1% as Nikko Citigroup raised its rating on the shares to Buy from Neutral on strong first-quarter results.
However, Sony fell 2.9% after the company disappointed investors with a 47.4% drop in its first-quarter operating profit. Toshiba lost 1.8% after the company reported its first operating loss in three years in the second quarter.
Denso Corp shed 4.1% after the autoparts maker said its net profit tumbled 23% in the period April-June on year. The company lowered its full year to March 2009 and first half to September earnings guidance.
Oil stocks dipped, with Inpex Holdings falling 2.4% after crude prices ended lower on Tuesday. Nippon Oil slipped 0.2%, but Nippon Mining Holdings advanced 1.5%.
The Chinese market closed lower, extending losses for a second day. Coal producers lost ground on speculation that a decline in the price of crude oil will reduce demand for the alternative fuel. The benchmark Shanghai composite index closed down 13.64 points or 0.48% at 2,836.66 after losing 1.8% on Tuesday.
Shenhua, the largest coal producer in China, fell 2.7%, China Coal Energy lost 2.0% and Shanxi Coking dropped 2.8%.
Elsewhere:
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.8% to 4,936.70 after declining for three straight sessions.
South Korea's Kospi added 0.7% to 1,577.70.
New Zealand's NZX 50 index gained 1.6% to 3,287.76.
with files from other wire services
