Asian stocks rallied Monday, with strong gains in financials, as investor confidence surged following the U.S. government's decision to put mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under conservatorship.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index gained 412.23 points or 3.38% to close at 12,624.46 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 860.99 points or 4.32% to close at 20,794.27.
On the economic front, the Bank of Japan said on Monday that bank lending in Japan increased by 2% on year, holding a steady rate of annual increase from the previous month. Including trusts, bank lending was flat on year at 1.8%. On a seasonally adjusted basis, bank lending increased 2.4% on year, easing from the 2.5% gain in July.
The central bank also said that M3 money stocks were up 1.0% on year in August, higher than the 0.9% forecast and the 0.8% annual increase in the previous month. M2 money stocks jumped 2.4% on year, higher than the 2.1% percent forecast that also was July's reading.
Among the big banks, Mitsubishi UFJ jumped 13.3%, Mizuho Financial rose 12.1% Sumitomo Mitsui soared 15.2%. Resona Holdings climbed 10.32%. The company said it will buy back up to 5.79% of its outstanding shares.
Brokerage Nomura Holdings gained 9.72% after a report said that the company may join bidders seeking a stake in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
Automaker Honda advanced 1.39%, Toyota gained 4.00%, Mazda rose 3.04%, Suzuki jumped 4.16% and Nissan climbed 3.00%. Exporters rose on the back of a weaker yen. Electronics giant Sony gained 3.87%, Nikon advanced 2.24% and heavy machinery maker Komatsu jumped 5.88%.
In the tech space, Advantest rose 6.13%, Kyocera jumped 4.43% and Fanuc gained 5.77%. Matsushita Electrical Industrial advanced 1.39%. One of the company's manufacturing plants in the U.S. will reportedly close by the end of next year, resulting in the loss of 500 jobs.
Among oil-related stocks, Inpex Holdings gained 2.43%, Nippon Oil rose 3.65% and Showa Shell advanced 1.95%. Trading house Itochu jumped 6.53%, Sojitz soared 6.25% and Marubeni climbed 5.04%. A consortium led by Marubeni is set to acquire Singapore's Senoko Power in Singapore, owned by Temasek, for S$3.65 billion.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan's weighted index gained 351.41 points or 5.57% to settle at 6658.69.
Singapore's Straits Times index closed up 120.28 points or 4.67% to 2,694.49.
Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur composite index added 5.39 points or 0.50% to settle at 1,075.93.
Indonesia's Jakarta composite index gained 15.43 points or 0.76% to close at 2,038.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended 3.9% higher at 5,067.50.
South Korean's Composite Index, or Kospi, sprinted 5.2% to 1,476.65.
Shanghai's Composite Index fell 2.7% to 2,143.42, its lowest closing level in 21 months.
with files from other wire services
