Asian shares rise after Wall Street rally

HONG KONG: Asian shares rose on Wednesday as traders  were buoyed by gains on Wall Street while also picking up undervalued stocks  following the previous day's heavy losses. Investors, who went into sell-off mode Tuesday after Standard & Poor's  lowered its outlook on United States sovereign debt, took heart from strong earnings from US giants such as Intel and IBM.

Tokyo rose 1.43 percent by the break, Hong Kong gained 0.80 percent and  Sydney added 0.95 percent while Shanghai was 0.28 percent higher and Seoul put on 1.79 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.53 percent on Tuesday, fuelled by a better than expected report from healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson as well as an upbeat outlook from investment bank Goldman Sachs. Intel and IBM also announced first quarter results that came in above forecasts, lifting Asian tech shares. "US debt concerns, US currency weakness and the potential inflationary impact are situations that are going to continue to overhang financial  markets," Shaw Stockbroking Head of Trading Jamie Spiteri told Dow Jones Newswires in Sydney. "But I believe markets have been absorbing some of those concerns prior to the immediate impact that was realised (Tuesday)," he said. Global stocks were sent diving after S&P challenged Washington's gold-star "AAA" rated standard by lowering its outlook for the first time to "negative"  from "stable", warning that politicians seemed unable to agree a plan to reduce  the huge budget deficit. The US earnings provided some room for dealers to move out of safer assets.

The dollar rose to 82.97 yen from 82.57 in New York Tuesday, while the euro  bounced to $1.4393 from $1.4334 and to 119.46 yen from 118.35. However, the euro was under pressure as traders continued to fret over  sovereign debt in the eurozone, which has seen bailouts for Greece and Ireland  and Portugal also call for help. In oil markets profit-taking and concerns over falling demand was mixed  with ongoing worries about unrest in the crude-rich Middle East and North  Africa. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June rose 13 cents to $108.41 a barrel, while Brent North Sea crude for June eased 13 cents to $121.20. Gold opened at $1,495.80-$1,496.80 an ounce in Hong Kong, up from Tuesday's  close of $1,494.00-$1,495.00.