Asia stocks rally on optimism over Greece; Nikkei jumps 2%
Investing.com
Published May 31, 2011 02:46AM ET
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.5%, South Korea's Kospi Composite soared 2.3%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rallied 2%.
Market sentiment was boosted after the Wall Street Journal reported that Germany may drop its call for Greece to restructure its debt in order to facilitate a new package of aid loans for the debt-laden country.
Meanwhile, official preliminary data released earlier in the day showed that Japanese industrial production rose by a seasonally adjusted 1% in April, rebounding from a record 15.3% decline in March, raising hopes over the country’s recovery from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Industrial-machinery firms performed strongly, with Fanuc shares gaining 2% and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries soaring 4.8%
Shares in Japanese exporters were broadly higher as the yen weakened against the U.S. dollar, boosting the outlook for the export earnings. Shares in Sony, which counts Europe as its biggest market outside of Japan climbed 1.9%, Canon rallied 2.1%, while Honda, which gets nearly 70% of its revenue abroad rose 2%.
In Hong Kong, shares in oil producers led gains after oil prices rose above USD101 a barrel, lifted by a weaker U.S. dollar.
Oil and gas giant PetroChina saw shares climb 2.5%, China Shenhua Energy jumped 1.2%, while China’s largest offshore oil driller CNOOC saw shares add 1.8%. The world’s largest commodities trader Glencore International advanced 1.7%.
Shares in Cosco Pacific, the Hong Kong-based operator of container facilities in Greece rallied 3.1%.
The outlook for European stock markets was upbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a gain of 0.9%, France’s CAC 40 futures added 0.85%, the FTSE 100 futures rose 0.7%, while Germany's DAX futures indicated an increase of 0.8%.
Later in the day, the euro zone was to publish preliminary data on consumer price inflation, while Germany was to publish official data on unemployment change. Meanwhile, the U.S. was to publish industry data on house price inflation and consumer confidence, as well as an index of manufacturing activity in the Chicago area.
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Written By: Investing.com
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