Stock markets in Asia rebounded, taking their lead from a firm finish on Wall Street and after the Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey revealed better than expected business sentiment.
US Treasury bond yields hit new lows and gold reached a record as traders, spurred by weak US economic data, bet on further easing action from the US Federal Reserve this year.
The FTSE Asia-Pacific Index traded 0.8 per cent higher, climbing to a five-month high.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 Average rose 0.7 per cent to 9,559.38 as relief over a much better-than-expected business sentiment report offset the effects of a stronger yen.
Indeed, the quarterly Tankan survey showed that business leaders expected a further policy response from Japanese authorities to cool the rise of the yen. On average, companies expect the currency to trade at Y89.44 in the second half of the fiscal year.
“Overall, the survey showed business sentiment improved thanks to robust demand from emerging economies including China, despite the appreciation of the yen and the decline in stock prices,” said Susumu Kato, Crédit Agricole’s chief economist in Japan.
The report, along with a rally in commodity prices, helped lift metal and oil producers. Toho Zinc gained 4.6 per cent to Y338, while Japan Steel Works added 3.4 per cent to Y811. JX Holdings, which owns Pan Pacific Copper, Japan’s top copper smelter, and JX Nippon Oil & Energy, the country’s top refiner, climbed 3.4 per cent to Y486.
Elpida Memory climbed 8.1 per cent to Y985 after the chipmaker said it planned to start mass production of a new memory chip. Other electronic manufacturers were lifted, with Pioneer up 3.4 per cent to Y302 and Fuji Electric adding 2.7 per cent to Y226.
Shinsei Bank jumped 6.9 per cent to Y62 after raising its profit forecast for next year by 59 per cent.
However, Tepco shed 7.8 per cent to Y2,105, its biggest fall in almost two years, on media reports that the utility company might sell as much as Y600bn ($7.1bn) of new stock to fund investments.
In Seoul, Samsung Electronics was up 3.6 per cent to Won772,000 and Hynix Semiconductor gained 2.3 per cent to Won21,850.
Samsung Heavy shares rose 0.3 per cent to Won29,800 after announcing it won a Won1,180bn ($1bn) order to build 10 container ships for Taiwan’s Evergreen Group.
Seoul’s Kospi Composite index rose 0.6 per cent to 1,866.45.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.2 per cent to 22,378.67.
Shares of BYD, the Chinese battery and carmaker, climbed 3.3 per cent to HK$58.85 on reports Warren Buffett may raise his stake.
