Market Update
Shares in Asia edged up Wednesday, following a positive close on Wall Street overnight, as markets took back some losses logged a day earlier following the United States outlook downgrade by Standard & Poor's.
At close, Japan's Nikkei, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, India's Sensex and Australia's ASX climbed 1.4% to 1.9%. Mainland China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.3%.
Technology shares witnessed broad buying interest following strong earnings reports from Intel, IBM and Yahoo in the United States Tuesday.
Stocks on the Move
Following Intel's results, chipmaker Elpida Memory rose 1.9% in Tokyo. In other stocks, automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan added 1.5% to 3.3%.
In Hong Kong, oil stocks CNOOC, PetroChina and Sinopec climbed 0.8% to 3.2%. Among financials, China-focused banks advanced, with Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank gaining between 1.6% and 2.8%.
Indian stocks joined the global rally, rising for the second day. In technology stocks, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro added 4.6% and 3%, respectively.
While in Sydney, miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto advanced 1.2% each while in banks, National Australia Bank, ANZ Bank and Westpac Banking Group added 1.6% to 1.9%.