HONG KONG, July 22 AFP - Asian markets have picked up with traders welcoming news that pro-Russian rebels had handed over the black boxes from downed flight MH17, helping to ease geopolitical concerns.
Hong Kong on Tuesday rallied 1.69 per cent, or 394.97 points, to close at 23,782.11 - its highest level since December - and Shanghai rose 1.02 per cent, or 21.00 points, to 2,075.48.
Tokyo closed up 0.84 per cent, or 127.57 points, at 15,343.28, Seoul ended 0.52 per cent higher, adding 10.43 points to 2,028.93, and Sydney ended up 0.06 per cent, or 3.4 points, at 5,543.3.
The downing of the Malaysia Airlines jet last Thursday in Ukraine fanned fears that a regional crisis could become an international one, with Western governments saying it was shot down by pro-Russian separatists.
Those tensions eased on Tuesday after it emerged the rebels had given the plane's two black boxes to Malaysian officials.
They also announced a ceasefire in an area around the crash site to provide safe access for an international investigation.
And they allowed a train carrying the remains of 280 of the people killed in the disaster to leave the region.
The improved sentiment filtered through to currency markets, with the yen easing as investors grow more confident in higher-risk assets. The Japanese unit is considered a safe haven in times of uncertainty.
In the afternoon, the US dollar was worth Y101.50 compared with Y101.38 in New York, while the euro rose to Y137.15 from Y137.10.
The single currency bought $US1.3521 against $US1.3523.
Wall Street's three main indexes ended in the red on Monday on concerns over Ukraine before news of the black box breakthrough emerged.
The Dow fell 0.28 per cent, the S&P 500 eased 0.23 per cent and the Nasdaq lost 0.17 per cent.
US dealers were also spooked by the ongoing battle in Gaza, where Israel has mounted a ground assault against Hamas, leading to the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
On oil markets, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery was up 54 US cents at $US105.13 at midday, and Brent crude for September climbed 26 US cents to $US107.95.
Gold fetched $US1,306.89 an ounce by 1800 AEST compared with $US1,314.80 late on Monday.
In other markets:
- Taipei rose 0.62 per cent, or 58.39 points, to 9,499.36.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.81 per cent higher at $Tw124.5 while leading chip design house MediaTek gained 1.97 per cent to $Tw517.0.
- Wellington added 0.14 per cent, or 6.97 points, to 5,133.87.
Fletcher Building was up 0.14 per cent at $NZ8.94 and Contact Energy gained 0.18 per cent to close at $NZ5.45.
- Manila ended marginally lower, dipping 4.94 points to 6,869.94.
Alliance Global Group slipped 2.90 per cent to 26.75 pesos while Nickel Asia dropped 5.99 per cent to 34.55 pesos.
