Asian stocks saw further upside on Friday amid a global equity rally that saw the U.S. markets posting their best two-day gains in three years on Thursday. Investors continued to cheer the Federal Reserve’s dovish policy statement, signaling that a rate hike would not happen until April next year.
Switzerland’s central bank has introduced a negative deposit rate to stop the Swiss franc getting any stronger amid the mayhem in Russia, boosting speculation the European Central Bank will expand stimulus in early 2015.
Chinese shares ended a choppy session sharply higher, led by gains in coal, energy and shipping stocks. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index finished 1.67 percent higher at 3,108.60, its highest level since November 2010. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.25 percent to 23,116.63, extending gains for a second day, on optimism over the U.S. economy.
In economic news, China’s National Bureau of Statistics revised its 2013 GDP estimate based on results from the latest economic census. The revised GDP for 2013 now stands at CNY 58.8 trillion, up 3.4 percent from the CNY 56.8 trillion estimated earlier.
Japanese shares rose the most in 6-1/2 weeks, buoyed by Wall Street’s strong performance Thursday. The benchmark Nikkei average climbed 411 points or 2.39 percent to 17,621.40, its biggest single-day gain since early November, while the broader Topix index advanced 2.4 percent to close at 1,409.61. Among the prominent gainers, Mitsui Fudosan, Mitsubishi Corp, Isuzu Motors, Sumitomo Realty & Development and Tokyo Electron rose 4-6 percent.
Toyota Motor Corp soared 4.3 percent after unveiling plans to further boost its research and development work in southeastern Michigan. Advantest and Fanuc climbed around 3 percent each, Honda Motor gained 2.5 percent, Nikon advanced 2.3 percent, Panasonic added 1.3 percent and Canon closed up a percent. Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding gained 1.9 percent after the company unveiled plans to invest about 17 billion yen into its domestic manufacturing bases.
The yen traded at a one-week low after the Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy steady and offered a slightly more upbeat view of the economy, saying the effects of a decline in demand following the sales tax increase have been waning on the whole. The central bank reaffirmed that it will continue with both quantitative and qualitative monetary easing as long as it is necessary to achieve the price stability target of 2 percent.
Australian shares soared in line with gains on Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 jumped 2.5 percent to finish at 5,339, its biggest single-day gain since July 2013, aided by across-the-board buying. Santos shares rose 0.4 percent after the oil and gas producer said it had secured an additional three-year, $1 billion bilateral bank loan facility. Caltex Australia, Origin Energy and Woodside Petroleum climbed 2-3 percent.
Mining giant BHP Billiton jumped 3.4 percent, Rio Tinto advanced 2.9 percent and smaller rival Fortescue Metals Group gained 2 percent. In the banking sector, ANZ, Commonwealth, Westpac and NAB rose 2-3 percent. Downer EDI soared 7 percent on winning a $2 billion contract for work on Adani Group’s controversial Carmichael Coal Mine project in Central Queensland.
Seoul shares snapped a four-day losing streak on signs the Fed will continue to be supportive of the world’s largest economy. The benchmark Kospi average jumped 1.71 percent to close at 1,929.98.
New Zealand shares joined a global rally sparked by the Federal Reserve. The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 0.17 percent to 5,527.75, with shares of companies with a broad exposure to the Australian market pacing the gains. Fletcher Building rallied 2.6 percent, TrustPower gained 2.2 percent and Ebos Group added 1.8 percent.
Sky City Entertainment Group tumbled 2.8 percent. The casino and hotel operator increased its estimate to build an international convention centre in downtown Auckland by as much as $130 million.
In economic releases, New Zealand business confidence stayed largely upbeat in December despite a dip in the headline index to 30.4 from 31.5 in November, a survey by ANZ Bank showed. Separately, central bank data showed that New Zealand’s credit card spending grew an annual 5.2 percent in November, down from the 6.8 percent increase seen in the previous month.
Elsewhere, the benchmark indexes in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan were up between 0.9 percent and 1.4 percent.
On Wall Street, the major averages climbed over 2 percent each overnight, with the Dow Industrials and the S&P 500 registering their biggest two-day gains in three years, as investors continued to embrace Federal Reserve’s pledge to be patient in hiking interest rates. Weekly jobless claims fell unexpectedly last week to the lowest level since late October, a Labor Department report showed, confirming the Fed’s upbeat assessment of the economy.
