Asian markets ended with strong gains Thursday, paced by Shanghai- and Hong Kong-listed shares a day after the Chinese central bank slashed interest rates to kick-start weakening economic growth.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 160.2 points or 2.0% to 8,373.4 while the benchmark Hang Seng Index closed up 182.6 points or 1.4% at 13,552.1.
On the economic front, the minutes of the monetary policy meeting on October 31 released Thursday showed that the Bank of Japan's board of governors agreed that the economic outlook for Japan was becoming increasingly uncertain and was likely to remain sluggish through mid-2009. At that meeting, the BoJ trimmed the overnight call rate by 20 basis points to 0.30%. The rate cut was the first in seven years.
Panasonic plunged 4.7% on reports that the company might cut its annual operating profit forecast by 30% or more as a slowing economy depressed sales of flat TVs and other electronics products. After the market close, Panasonic cut its forecast by a deeper 39%.
In the shipping sector, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines jumped 7.4%, Nippon Yusen rose 6.5%, and Kawasaki Kisen climbed 5.2%. Among commodity-related stocks, Oil and gas field developer Inpex Holdings soared 10%, Mitsui & Co gained 7.7%, Mitsubishi Corp advanced 5.7% and Marubeni Corp added 6.5%.
In the tech space, Kyocera gained 2.8%, TDK rose 3.9%, Sony climbed 1.1%, Canon advanced 2.7%, and Tokyo Electron moved up 1.2%.
In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group added 4.0%, Mizuho Financial Group climbed 2.5% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group advanced 5.6%.
CHINA
The Chinese stock market surged 6.1% at opening on Thursday after the central bank announced the biggest interest rates cut in 11 years, but pared back most of the gains as worries over the economy resurfaced. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.1%, or 20.0 points, to close at 1,917.9.
The People's Bank of China cut the benchmark one-year savings and lending rates by 1.08 percentage points on Wednesday, the most radical move since October 1997 when it slashed the savings rate by 180 basis points and lending rates by 144 basis points in response to the Asian Financial Crisis.
Real estate stocks led the gainers. China Vanke advanced 3.1%, Gemdale surged 5.4% and COFCO Property rose 3.5%.
Market heavy weight PetroChina climbed 1.5% and oil refiner Sinopec gained 0.7%. China Life Insurance edged up 0.5% and Ping An Insurance added 1.0%.
Air China jumped 6.1%, while China Eastern Airlines was suspended from trading today pending an announcement of the central government's capital injection into its parent company.
CITIC Securities added 4.1%, Changjiang Securities advanced 2.4%, and Haitong Securities climbed 0.9%.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan's Taiex closed up 4.3% at 4,453.
Singapore's STI closed flat at 1,710.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index closed up 0.8% at 1,202.
Malaysia's KLCI closed up 13.6 points at 870.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.4% to 3,589.30.
New Zealand's NZX 50 index gained 1.2% to 2,668.74.
South Korea's Kospi climbed 3.5% to 1,065.29.
with files from other wire services
