By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks rebounded strongly Monday to lead Asian markets higher in the wake of gains on Wall Street, with financials such as China Construction Bank Corp. and property firms such as Cheung Kong (Holdings) fronting an across-the-board advance. Mumbai-listed stocks surged in early trading after the Reserve Bank of India cut interest rates over the weekend, while lenders such as Westpac Banking Corp. were also aided by hopes the Australian central bank may cut interest rates on Tuesday. Japanese stock markets were closed for a holiday. The Hang Seng Index rose 5.3% to 14,710.79, after ending 2.5% lower on Friday, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index surged 7.7% to 7,119.59. Patrick Yiu, associate director at CASH Asset Management, said a bounce back in Shanghai-listed shares and expectations that Chinese banks may post strong earnings growth next year helped support the advance. Still, the market was "a bit passive" after last week's strong gains and 15,000 was a key resistance level for the Hang Seng Index, he said. Taifook Research analyst Wilson Wong wrote in a report investors were likely to closely watch the U.S. presidential elections and key U.S. economic data, including the payroll numbers and the unemployment rate, this week. Interest rate decisions by the Bank of England and the European Central Bank were also likely to hold market attention, he added. India's Sensex jumped 5.1% to 10,291.62 after the central bank cut interest rates by a half-point to 7.5% on Saturday, marking the second rate cut in two weeks. South Korea's Kospi jumped 2.8% to 1,143.92, after soaring 18.6% in the previous week. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 3.3% to 4,153.50 in Sydney, ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's meeting on interest rates Tuesday. The central bank was widely expected to cut its benchmark interest rate by a half-point to 5.5%. New Zealand's NZX 50 index added 1.3% to 2,856.66, while the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.8% to 1,742.59, erasing early losses. Elsewhere, Singapore's Straits Times Index jumped 4.7% to 1,879.04, Taiwan's Taiex gained 2.1% to 4,974.91 and Malaysia's KLSE Composite rose 3.2% to 891.06. Regional detail In Hong Kong, shares of China Construction Bank soared 10% and Bank of China jumped 6.8%. Among property firms, Cheung Kong rose 6.8%. In Mumbai, shares of property developer DLF soared 8.5%, while ICICI Bank stock jumped 10%. Among South Korean shipbuilders, shares of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. spiked 14.7% and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. jumped 12%, while STX Shipbuilding Co. climbed 10.7% on continued bargain buying. The stocks are down 60% or more in 2008. In Sydney, shares of Westpac Banking Corp. rose 3.9% and National Australia Bank gained 3.3%, while Macquarie Group jumped 9.6%. Among resource stocks, BHP Billiton advanced 4.7% and Rio Tinto rose 3.1%. The gains came although the Sunday Times reported that European regulators are expected to threaten to stop BHP's proposed takeover of Rio this wee, because of the pair's dominance over global iron ore supplies. In Asian currency trading, the U.S. dollar bought 98.54 yen, compared with 98.35 yen late Friday. The Australian dollar changed hands for $0.6736, from $0.660 Friday. December crude-oil futures slipped as much as 70 cents to $67.11 a barrel in electronic trading, after rising $1.85 to $67.81 a barrel Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.6% to 9,325.01 and the S&P 500 index gained 1.5% to 968.75, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.3% to 1,720.95.

Source