Asian shares rise after more solid US earnings

HONG KONG, Apr 21 (AFP): Asian stocks rallied for a second straight day on Thursday, with dealers buoyed by another batch of strong earnings in the United States and a jump on Wall Street to a near three-year high. Technology firms were boosted after Apple said its profits almost doubled in the three months to the end of March, which followed solid results from Intel, Yahoo! and IBM. Tokyo gained 0.82 per cent, or 78.95 points, to 9,685.77 and Hong Kong ended 1.01 per cent, or 242.21 points, higher at 24,138.31. Sydney added 1.13 per cent, or 54.8 points, to 4,913.8, Seoul rose 1.32 per cent, or 28.63 points, to 2,198.54 and Shanghai finished 0.65 per cent stronger, adding 19.63 points to 3,026.67. On Wall Street the Dow jumped 1.52 per cent, its highest level since June 2008, on the back of the earnings. Global stocks have rebounded strongly since Tuesday when sentiment was hurt after Standard & Poor's downgraded its outlook for US sovereign debt. However, the dollar was sent sliding against Asian units as it was weighed by rising stocks prices, increasing risk appetite and lingering fears over the US debt mountain. Regional tech plays were boosted after US computer giant Apple said net profit soared 95 per cent in its fiscal second quarter thanks to surging sales of iPhones and iPads. Yahoo! said net profit fell but at a slower pace that anticipated while IBM also surprised investors. Previously chipmaker Intel beat expectations by reporting net profit jumped 29 per cent in the first quarter over a year ago and revenue rose 25 per cent. "Great earnings numbers from both Apple and Intel this week are giving investors confidence that the US economy is trending up," Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of the equity division at Nikko Cordial Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires. "And for now it is offsetting concerns over debt issues in Europe and nuclear worries (in Japan)."