Asia stocks jump on EU hopes, U.S. holiday sales; Nikkei up 1.6%

Investing.com – Asian stock markets rallied on Monday, as sentiment was lifted by hopes that European policymakers will reach an agreement to contain the region’s debt crisis and after a robust start to the U.S. holiday shopping season. 

During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 2.05%, Australia’s ASX/200 Index jumped 1.85%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index gained 1.6%.

German media outlets reported over the weekend that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were studying legal changes to the European Union treaty, which would include deeper financial integration among EU members.

A separate report over the weekend in an Italian newspaper said the International Monetary Fund was preparing an aid package for Italy of up to EUR600 billion. However the report was subsequently denied by an IMF spokesman.

Shares in the financial sector led gains in Japan. Investment banks Nomura Holdings and Daiwa Securities, which have large exposure to European sovereign debt, jumped 4.35% and 1.8% respectively, while the nation’s largest lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group added 1.9%.

Japanese exporters performed strongly after the U.S. National Retail Federation said that Thanksgiving weekend sales in the U.S. rose 16% from a year earlier to a record USD52.4 billion, boosting the outlook for export earnings.

Consumer electronics giant Sony saw shares gain 2.3%, plasma television maker Sharp rose 1.75%, while automakers Toyota and Honda saw shares climb 2.9% and 4.1% respectively.

Elsewhere, in Hong Kong, shares in lenders led markets higher, with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shares rallying 4.1% and Hong Kong-listed shares of Europe’s biggest bank HSBC Holdings climbing 2.1%

Raw material producers also contributed to gains, tracking commodity prices higher. Jiangxi Copper Company saw shares rise 3.7%, while oil and gas giant PetroChina added 1.95%. 

Hong Kong-based retailers were broadly higher. Shares of Li & Fung, which is the world’s biggest supplier of toys to major U.S. retailers, soared 9.1%, while shares in Esprit Holdings, which counts Europe as its largest market climbed 2.55%.

Meanwhile, the outlook for European stock markets was upbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a gain of 1.5%, France’s CAC 40 futures rose 1.35%, the FTSE 100 futures added 1.15%, while Germany's DAX futures indicated a strong gain of 1.75%.

Later in the day, Germany was to produce preliminary data on consumer price inflation, as well as a report on consumer climate. Also Monday, the U.S. was to release official data on new home sales.