HONG KONG: Asian stock markets rose on Monday thanks partly to the easing of Egypt's political crisis, although there was caution about upcoming Chinese inflation data while oil prices remained high.
Tokyo's Nikkei climbed 1.13 percent, or 119.89 points, to 10,725.54, despite data showing Japan's economy contracted 1.1 percent in the last quarter of 2010.
The data confirmed Japan had lost its 42-year-old spot as the world's number two economy to China.
The market partly responded to a modest gain on Wall Street on Friday, where optimism about US economic prospects was compounded by relief at the resignation of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak after weeks of unrest.
"It appears that conditions in Egypt may calm down for now, but uncertainty over the broader Middle East will likely continue," Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 ended 1.12 percent, or 54.9 points, higher at 4,935.8, its highest finish in 10 months.
The index was helped by strong earnings from mining giant Rio Tinto, which fuelled optimism ahead of results from rival miner BHP Billiton on Wednesday.
Australian stocks were also lifted by data showing an increase in housing finance approvals for a sixth straight month in December, despite rising interest rates.
Shanghai's Composite Index ended up 2.54 percent, or 71.80 points, at 2,899.13 after data showed exports and imports surged in January, while the trade surplus fell 53.5 percent to $6.45 billion, providing a boost to the country's growth prospects.
Exports increased 37.7 percent from a year earlier, while imports jumped 51 percent, the General Administration of Customs said.
However, investors have an eye on January inflation data due out Tuesday, with many nervously hoping the figure might fall short of five percent.
Peter So, managing director at CCB International Securities, said: "Investors remain concerned about possible interest-rate hikes in China if the country's January CPI rises over five percent, which would likely trigger another round of tightening measures."
Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended the session up 1.28 percent, or 292.14 points, at 23,121.06, rebounding from a 4.5 percent fall over the course of last week.
In the United States on Friday the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.36 percent, the broader S&P 500 index advanced 0.55 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq rose 0.68 percent.
On oil markets, Brent North Sea crude was above the $101 dollar mark as traders remained wary of more pro-democracy protests in the Middle East following Mubarak's departure, analysts said.
Brent North Sea crude for April advanced 64 cents to $101.58 on its first day of trade.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for March delivery, was up eight cents at $85.66 per barrel in the afternoon.
The dollar eased against the yen in Asia, weighed by selling from Japanese exporters.
The dollar traded at 83.17 yen in Tokyo afternoon trading, down from 83.42 yen in New York late Friday.
The euro fell to $1.3535 from 1.3546, and to 112.58 yen from 112.99.
Gold ended at $1,360.00-$1,361.00 an ounce in Hong Kong, down from Friday's close of $1,363.30-$1,364.30.
In other markets:
-- Singapore rose 0.88 percent, or 27.15 points, to close at 3,104.42.
Property developer CapitaLand advanced 0.90 percent to Sg$3.37 and Singapore Telecom was unchanged at S$3.04.
-- Seoul closed 1.89 percent, or 37.40 points higher, at 2,014.59.
-- Taipei rose 0.88 percent, or 75.61 points, to 8,685.47.
Leading contract microchip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co closed 1.54 percent higher at Tw$72.5 while Hon Hai Precision added 0.86 percent to Tw$117.0.
-- Jakarta rose 0.74 percent, or 25 points, to 3,416.76.
-- Kuala Lumpur closed up 0.72 percent, or 10.81 points, at 1,505.33.
Power giant Tenaga rose 3.2 percent to 6.14 ringgit, banking RHB Capital added 1.5 percent to 8.01 and gaming Genting Malaysia gained 1.2 percent to 3.33 ringgit.
-- Manila rose 1.27 percent, or 47.58 points, to 3,796.73.
Aboitiz Equity Ventures led gainers, rising 0.94 percent to 37.35 pesos.
Metropolitan Bank climbed 2.38 percent to 58.15 pesos and Ayala Land surged 4.28 percent to 14.60 pesos.
-- Wellington rose 0.47 percent, or 16.03 points, to 3,383.47.
Fletcher Building rose 1.1 percent to NZ$8.25 and Telecom rose 2.3 percent to NZ$2.21.
Dual-listed banks did well, with ANZ up 3.3 percent at NZ$33.91 and Westpac up 1.9 percent at NZ$32.29.
Comments
Comments are closed.