Asian stocks rise for fourth day
Friday, 24 August 2007
TOKYO, Aug 23 (Reuters): Asian-Pacific stocks rose for the fourth day in a row Thursday with many major bourses ending more than 2 per cent higher after overnight gains on Wall Street and renewed market confidence following global losses related to the US mortgage crisis.
Analysts attributed the hikes to a 2-billion-dollar investment by Bank of America into Countrywide Financial Corp, the biggest US mortgage lender, relieving investors' fears that Countrywide would go bankrupt. Countrywide has been hit by the crisis surrounding growing losses linked to US subprime, or high-risk, home loans.
The bailout eased investors' concerns that a credit crunch would effect economic growth around the world.
As a result, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 2.6 per cent to 16,316.32 while its broader Topix index of all first-section issues saw a 3-per-cent hike to 1,591.81.
Buying was helped along by the yen's fall against major currencies, which makes Japanese exports cheaper abroad and increases the value of Japanese companies' overseas sales.
Australian stocks saw a fifth-straight rally with the All Ordinaries index adding 2.5 per cent to close at 6,149.7.
The world's biggest miner, BHP Billiton Ltd, was up 5.7 per cent after reporting corporate Australia's biggest ever profit. It was the giant resources company's eighth-consecutive record profit.
Financial counters, including Macquarie Bank and Babcock and Brown, were also up, reflecting the fading of concerns over the US subprime lending market.
Taiwan's Taiex index jumped 2.8 per cent to 8.732. 84, Seoul's Kospi index ascended 2.3 per cent to 1,799.72 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 2.77 per cent to 22,966.97.
A help for Hong Kong-listed shares was the Chinese government's decision this week to allow mainland investors to directly buy Hong Kong stocks.
That move was expected to drain money away from the two mainland markets, but they shrugged it off, along with government moves to cool off the booming economy, as the index that tracks mainland China's largest bourse surpassed 5,000 for the first time.
Analysts attributed the hikes to a 2-billion-dollar investment by Bank of America into Countrywide Financial Corp, the biggest US mortgage lender, relieving investors' fears that Countrywide would go bankrupt. Countrywide has been hit by the crisis surrounding growing losses linked to US subprime, or high-risk, home loans.
The bailout eased investors' concerns that a credit crunch would effect economic growth around the world.
As a result, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 2.6 per cent to 16,316.32 while its broader Topix index of all first-section issues saw a 3-per-cent hike to 1,591.81.
Buying was helped along by the yen's fall against major currencies, which makes Japanese exports cheaper abroad and increases the value of Japanese companies' overseas sales.
Australian stocks saw a fifth-straight rally with the All Ordinaries index adding 2.5 per cent to close at 6,149.7.
The world's biggest miner, BHP Billiton Ltd, was up 5.7 per cent after reporting corporate Australia's biggest ever profit. It was the giant resources company's eighth-consecutive record profit.
Financial counters, including Macquarie Bank and Babcock and Brown, were also up, reflecting the fading of concerns over the US subprime lending market.
Taiwan's Taiex index jumped 2.8 per cent to 8.732. 84, Seoul's Kospi index ascended 2.3 per cent to 1,799.72 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 2.77 per cent to 22,966.97.
A help for Hong Kong-listed shares was the Chinese government's decision this week to allow mainland investors to directly buy Hong Kong stocks.
That move was expected to drain money away from the two mainland markets, but they shrugged it off, along with government moves to cool off the booming economy, as the index that tracks mainland China's largest bourse surpassed 5,000 for the first time.