Asian markets staged a strong recovery Monday, with Hong Kong and Tokyo stocks leading the charge as investors snapped up financials such as HSBC Holdings and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 212.62 points or 1.68% at 12,878.66 while the benchmark Hang Seng index closed up 712.73 points or 3.5% at 21,104.79.
Banks and exporters led the gainers, mining stocks and trading houses fell on lower commodity prices.
Major exporters rose on a weaker yen. Toyota Motor gained 2.9%, Sony and Honda Motor surged 4.4% each, machinery maker Komatsu advanced 0.9%, and Canon climbed 2.8%.
Among financials, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group jumped 4.8% each, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group climbed 4.2%, top brokerage Nomura Holdings gained 3.0%, and Daiwa Securities Group added 2.3%.
Sea transporters were higher, with Kawasaki Kisen rising 3.5%, Mitsui OSK Lines gaining 3.2%, and Nippon Yusen adding 2.4%.
Oil and gas miner Inpex Holdings plunged 4.5% and Nippon Mining Holdings slipped 0.2%, while Nippon Oil rose 1.1% after oil prices plummeted Friday. Among trading houses, Marubeni fell 1.5%, Itochu lost 1.1%, Mitsubishi Corp declined 0.7%, and Mitsui & Co. gave away 0.9%.
Sanyo Electric gained 1.4% after a report said that the company would disband Sanyo BPL, a 50-50 Indian joint venture that manufactures cathode-ray tube for televisions, in the current fiscal year to March 2009.
Nippon Steel rose 1.4% after a Nikkei report said that the leading steelmaker and other major Japanese steelmakers plan to jointly acquire overseas mining rights for iron ore.
The Chinese market closed higher, ending a two-day losing streak, led by Sinopec and banks. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed up 8.15 points or 0.34% at 2,413.37.
China Petroleum & Chemical gained 1.40% after the refiner reported a stronger than expected first-half net profit. The company's profit fell 73.4% on year to 9.339 billion yuan under Chinese accounting standards. Index heavyweight PetroChina advanced 0.9%.
Banks were also higher after China Construction Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank posted solid first-half earnings growth.
China Construction Bank climbed 0.4% after its first-half net profit rose 71.44% on year-over-year basis to 58.667 billion yuan. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank edged up 0.1%. Its first-half net profit rose nearly 150% from a year earlier to 6.37 billion yuan.
Among other financial stocks, Bank of Communications jumped 2.9% ahead of announcement its first-half earnings later today, China Pacific Insurance advanced 2.1%, China Life Insurance gained 2.0%, and Ping An Insurance rose 1.4%. The Economic Observer reported that Ping An is in talks to acquire a majority stake in Guangzhou Commercial Bank in southern China's Guangdong province.
Gold miners declined on lower prices for the precious metal. Zijin Mining fell 2.7% and Zhongjin Gold plunged 4.6%.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan's Taiex closed up 1.7% at 7,030.
Singapore's STI closed up 0.4% at 2,733.
Malaysia's KLCI closed down 0.6% at 1,078.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index closed up 0.3% at 2,127.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.7%.
New Zealand's NZX 50 index rose 0.5%.
with files from other wire services
