Asian markets ended mostly higher Wednesday as upbeat results from regional banks and a strong performance report from Standard Chartered outweighed nervousness before the release of the U.S. bank stress tests.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 404.49 points, or 2.5%, to 16,834.57, with Standard Chartered rising 7.4% a day after the U.K. lender with focus on emerging markets said it had a record quarter in terms of both profit and income in the first quarter of 2009.
Market heavyweight HSBC Holdings jumped 6.3%, helped also by a rating upgrade from J.P. Morgan.
Japanese markets remained closed for the Golden Week holidays.
Shares of Westpac Banking Group gained 2.4%, supporting the market in Sydney, after it posted a 1.2% decline in profit for the fiscal first half, but reported an increase in its net interest margin.
In Singapore, banks also surged after United Overseas Bank and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. reported smaller-than-expected declines in first-quarter net profit. UOB shares jumped 10.8% and OCBC climbed 4.2% by late afternoon.
Still, there was some nervousness ahead of the release of the U.S. bank stress tests Thursday, with sentiment weighed down by a Reuters report that Bank of America Corp. may need to raise more capital.
Shares of Citic Pacific dropped 2.4% in Hong Kong after a term sheet showed its former chairman was seeking to sell up to $94 million in the company's shares.
In Sydney, Boral rose 0.9% on news it had sold its 18% stake in rival building-products maker Adelaide Brighton for 210 million Australian dollars ($155 million U.S.) to reduce debt.
Taiwan markets were still being led by auto makers after a report Tuesday in the Economic Daily News that they had boosted weekend shifts to increase production, with Yulon Motor up 6.9%.
In currency markets, the U.S. dollar was at 98.41 yen, from 98.96 yen in New York, while the euro was at 131.21 yen, from 131.89 yen. Against the dollar, the euro was buying $1.3326 U.S., from $1.3324 U.S.
Elsewhere:
China’s Shanghai 300 Composite Index gained 37.96 points, or 1.4%, to 2,764.95
Singapore’s Straits Times Index climbed 104.68 points, or 5.1% to 2,179.03
South Korea’s Kospi index eased back 4.47 points, or 0.3% to 1,393.45
Taiwan’s Taiex index galloped ahead 186.76 points, or 2.9% to 6,566.70
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index advanced 12.31 points, or 0.4%, to end the day at 2,831.36.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 23.30 points, or 0.6% to 3,867.10
