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Asian Stocks Follow Wall Street Higher
[October 22, 2014]

Asian Stocks Follow Wall Street Higher


(Alliance News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) CANBERA (Alliance News) - Asian stocks rose broadly on Wednesday, taking their cues from Wall Street's strong performance overnight, underpinned by strong quarterly results from companies such as Apple, Texas Instruments and United Technologies and talk of economic stimulus in Europe.



Adding to the upbeat sentiment, a report released overnight showed that sales of previously-owned homes in the US reached their highest level of the year in September, indicating smooth recovery of the housing market after a rough winter and weaker results earlier this year.

China's Shanghai Composite index fell 0.56% to 2,326.55, erasing earlier gains on speculation that recent gains may have been too rapid relative to the country's growth outlook. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index, meanwhile, climbed 1.37% to 23,403.97, joining a global rally ahead of Chinese manufacturing figures due later in the week.


Japanese shares soared after a sharp drop the previous day. The benchmark Nikkei average jumped 2.64% to 15,195.77, reversing Tuesday's 2% slide, while the broader Topix index added 2.58% to finish at 1,236.41. Foster Electric, a supplier to Apple Inc., climbed 5.4% and Japan Aviation Electronics Industry soared 5.8% after Apple reported encouraging quarterly results on strong iPhone sales.

Heavyweight SoftBank rallied 3.3%, electronics maker Sony climbed 3.4% and automaker Toyota Motor added 1.7%. Fujifilm Holdings gained 4.1% after announcing that it was expanding the production of its anti-influenza drug Avigan for treatment of Ebola patients. Takata Corp ended unchanged after Tuesday's sell-off following a recall plea to fix faulty air bags.

On the economic front, Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 958.3 billion yen in September, the Ministry of Finance said - remaining in the red for the 27th consecutive month. The headline figure missed forecasts for a shortfall of 780.0 billion yen. Exports rose 6.9% year-over-year to 6.383 trillion yen, beating estimates for a gain of 6.5%, while imports jumped an annual 6.2% to 7.341 trillion yen versus forecasts for an increase of 2.7%.

Australian shares rose sharply, led by banks and miners after US and European stocks rallied overnight on upbeat US earnings and economic news. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.1% to 5,385.9, extending gains for the seventh straight session.

BHP Billiton shares advanced 1.5%. The mining giant produced a record amount of iron ore in the September quarter and said it was on track to reach its target of 16% production growth over the two years to the end of the 2015 financial year. Rival Rio Tinto gained 2.1%, Fortescue Metals Group rallied 3.1% and gold miner Newcrest jumped 3.6%. In the banking sector, Commonwealth, NAB, Westpac and ANZ rose between 0.5% and 1.3% Energy stocks also posted notable gains, with Oil Search, Santos and Caltex Australia climbing 1-3%. Telstra Corp rose 0.7% as it launched a new business unit to cash in on internet-delivered healthcare. Supermarket giant Woolworths edged up 0.2% after rejecting media reports it is considering selling Big W.

In economic news, consumer prices in Australia advanced 2.3% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2014, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said, coming in line with expectations and down from 3.0% in the second quarter. Separately, the Conference Board said that its leading economic index for Australia fell 0.2% in August from the previous month, following the upwardly revised 0.6% gain in July.

Seoul shares rallied on foreign fund buying. The benchmark Kospi average jumped 1.13% to finish at 1,936.97, its highest level in nearly two weeks. Woori Finance Holdings rose 2.5% and LG Display climbed 2.9% before unveiling its earnings later in the day, while Hyundai Motors fell 3.3% ahead of its third-quarter results due tomorrow.

New Zealand shares hit a record high, with Xero pacing the gainers after technology stocks led the rally on Wall Street overnight. The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 0.89% to 5279.70. Online accounting software firm Xero soared 5.4% to USD16.76, snapping a four-day losing streak, amid reports that it is moving ahead with plans over its proposed US initial public offering.

Chemical manufacturer Nuplex Industries rallied 3.9% after announcing the sale of two of its businesses and exporter Fisher & Paykel Healthcare advanced 2.4% while Spark New Zealand, formerly Telecom Corp, added 0.9%.

Elsewhere, India's Sensex was up 0.7%, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite was gaining 0.8% and the Taiwan Weighted average rose over a percent, while Singapore's Straits Times was little changed.

The jobless rate in Taiwan fell to a seasonally adjusted 3.9% in September from 3.94% in August, official data showed. Economists had expected the rate to decrease to 3.92%.

Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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