Steelmakers such as Posco and Angang Steel Co. led Asian metals and mining shares lower Monday, on reports Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. was expected to further cut production and ahead of likely weak earnings from Alcoa Inc.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index gained 24.54 points, or 0.29%, to close at 8,438.45 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 37 points, or 0.27% to close at 13,705.
In economic news, Japan's machine tool orders decreased 71.9% year-on-year in December after falling 62.1% in November, the Machine Tool Builders' Association said Wednesday. Domestic orders slumped 74%, while external orders plummeted 70.3%.
Tech and export-oriented stocks closed higher. Advantest rose 2.21%, Kyocera gained 2.97% and Tokyo Electron advanced 0.97%. Among export-oriented stocks, Sony jumped 4.50%, Canon advanced 1.38%, Sharp gained 1.86% and Komatsu added 0.80%. Toshiba jumped 5.97% following report in the Nikkei business daily that the company is in the final stages of talks to buy the hard-disk drive business of Fujitsu for 30-40 billion yen. Fujitsu gained 5.33%.
Banking and auto maker stocks also gained. Mitsubishi UFJ eased 0.38%, Mizuho Financial advanced 0.79%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial advanced 0.54% and Resona Holdings gained 0.70%. Among automakers, Toyota advanced 1.57%, Honda added 0.36% and Nissan rose 3.50%, while Mazda closed unchanged.
In the oil sector, Inpex surged 5.28%, Nippon Oil eased 0.75% and Showa Shell gave away 0.37%. Trading house Mitsubishi rose 2.50% and Marubeni added 0.61%, while Itochu eased 0.90% and Mitsui & Co. closed unchanged.
Shipping stocks closed higher on increases in fees for transporting commodities. Nippon Yusen advanced 1.50%, Mitsui O.S.K. rose 3.60% and Kawasaki Kisen gained 2.78%.
CHINA
The Chinese stock market closed sharply higher on Wednesday, led by banking and metal stocks. Speculation that the central bank will cut interest rates to spur economic growth also helped buoy the market. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, gained 65.50 points, or 3.52%, to close at 1,928.87.
Among banks, Bank of China rose 2.40% despite news that the Royal bank of Scotland decided to sell up to 15 billion H-shares in the company. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, the Chinese partner of Citigroup, soared 8.8%. Bank of Nanjing, partly owned by BNP Paribas SA, jumped 5.37% after it said its profit for 2008 may rise 70% from the preceding year due to higher interest and fee income.
In the insurance sector, China Life Insurance jumped 5.03% and Ping An Insurance climbed 8.15%. Shanxi Xishan Coal and Electricity Power gained 9.97%, while Baoshan Iron & Steel rose 3.43% and Inner Mongolia Baotuo Steel Rare-Earth climbed 10.04%.
Elsewhere:
Singapore's Straits Times Index gained 3 points, or 0.16% to settle at 1765.
Taiwan's Weighted Index declined 11 points, or 0.24% to settle at 4,521.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index lost 13 points, or 0.92% to close at 1387.
Malaysia's KLSE Composite Index eased 0.03% to finish at 913.
The benchmark NZX 50 Index gained 12.14 points, or 0.44%, to finish at 2,786.78.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 32.40 points, or 0.89% to close at 3,687.00.
with files from other wire services
