Asian shares up after Wall St rallies

Asian markets rose on Thursday, taking their lead from a Wall Street rally after minutes from the US Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting showed no support for an early rise in interest rates. While early gains were pared after China said imports and exports fell sharply in March, Hong Kong and Shanghai were lifted by hopes of new government stimulus measures. Tokyo ended flat, edging up 0.43 points to 14,300.12, and Seoul added 0.48 per cent, or 9.66 points, to 2,008.61. Sydney closed up 17 points or 0.31 per cent at 5,480.8 after data showed unemployment had dropped in March below 6.0 per cent. In the afternoon Hong Kong had advanced 0.77 per cent and Shanghai was 1.16 per cent higher. Regional investors were given a positive lead from the US after the Fed minutes showed bank policymakers were broadly in favour of continuing a steady reduction in its stimulus programme. China said on Thursday that imports slumped 11.3 per cent year-on-year and exports fell 6.6 per cent. Expectations had been for imports to rise 2.8 per cent and exports to increase 4.2 per cent. The news adds to increasing uncertainty about the Asian economic giant and key driver of global and regional growth following a string of weak indicators including on investment and industrial output, according to AFP.