Market Update
Asian shares all closed higher, ending more than a week of negative or lacklustre trading amid news of a faster-than-expected industrial recovery in Japan, and that the European Union may yet help Greece to solve its sovereign debt crisis.
The Nikkei ended the day 2% higher while the Shanghai Composite closed up 1.4% after falling for eight straight sessions. The Hang Seng and the S&P/ASX 200 gained 2.2% and 0.9% each, respectively. The Sensex closed up 1.5%.
The yen fell against all its peers, pushing up Japanese exporter stocks after Moody's Investors Service said it may downgrade Japan's sovereign ratings. It fell to 81.50 yen against the U.S. dollar.
Stocks on the Move
Major index gainer Softbank closed up 3.6% on the Nikkei after Credit Suisse and Nomura raised their target prices on the stock.
Companies with major sales outside Japan including Sony Corp., Canon, Toyota and Mazda Motor all gained between 1.5% and 2.1% each respectively, boosted by the weaker yen.
Fanuc Corp., a maker of industrial robots, rose 1.8% after economic data showed factory production may recover from March's earthquake disaster as soon as next month.
Solar power stocks also clocked gains as Germany said it would shut all nuclear reactors by 2022. Panel-maker Sharp Corp. rose 2.7% in Tokyo while panel equipment-maker Ulvac gained 2.1%.
Power and resources stocks led gains in China as an unidentified government official said power tariffs in 15 Chinese provinces would be raised starting tomorrow. Huaneng Power gained 1.6% and China Yangtze Power gained 1.3% in Shanghai while in Hong Kong, China Resources Power ended up 2.7% on the news.
China Coal Energy and Yanzhou Coal Mining rose 1.8% and 2.9% each respectively.
Hutchison Whampoa was the best-performing blue chip on the Hang Seng, rising 5% on news its subsidiary Husky Energy is exploring a potential secondary listing in Hong Kong.
PetroChina closed up 0.3%.
In India, the markets discounted the lower-than-expected GDP data showing the economy to have grown at 8.5% in 2010-2011, below the government's estimates of 8.6%. The biggest gainer on the Sensex was Jaiprakash Associates, up 4.5%. DLF, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, ITC and Reliance Communications all closed between 2.5% and 3.6% higher.
Pharma major Cipla was the only loser on the Sensex, closing down 1.3%.
Materials and financial stocks helped the Australian benchmark close in positive territory despite disappointing economic data released by the Statistics Bureau that showed an increase in the current account deficit for the March quarter by almost a third to $10.45 billion.
Other data show building approvals fell last month by 1.3%, offsetting the rise seen in March.
But banking majors Westpac, NAB, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ all closed up between 0.6% and 1.2% each, respectively.
Index heavyweight BHP Billiton added 1% and Rio Tinto gained 1.1%. Gold miner Newcrest Mining finished 1.2% higher after spot gold prices in Sydney ended up 74 cents over Monday's close.
In earnings news, Hills Holdings fell 1.9% after the pipe manufacturer forecast annual earnings to fall by up to 40%.