Asian Markets Rise on WallStreet's Gain
SHANGHAI, China - Asian markets rallied Monday as investors were heartened by Wall Street's rebound last week and by reports downplaying the impact of disastrous winter storms on China's broader economy.
Investors also snapped up shares of major miners Rio Tinto and Aluminum Corp. of China on Friday's news that the Chinese company and Alcoa Inc. had bought a big stake Rio Tinto, which is listed in both Sydney and London.
China's stock market was by far the strongest Monday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surging 6.2 percent to 4,590.12 by midday, lifting the market off six-month lows hit last week.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped more than 3 percent, and Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 2.7 percent to close at 13,859.70 points. Markets in South Korea and India also rose.
Last week's rally on Wall Street — which put in its best five-day gain since March 2003 — boosted sentiment in Asia, where markets have tumbled since the start of the year on worries about a U.S. recession. While those concerns lingered, investors focused on Microsoft Corp.'s bid for Internet company Yahoo Inc. and a possible rescue plan for the troubled bond insurance sector.
In Tokyo, Yahoo Japan shares shot up 9.5 percent, while Softbank Corp., which owns part of Yahoo Japan, surged 16 percent. Japanese bank, brokerage and real estate issues also advanced.
Investors in mainland China and Hong Kong bid up stocks after China's state-run newspapers carried front-page statements by top economic officials downplaying the likely impact of the winter storms that have gripped southern China with its worst snowfalls in 50 years.
"There's no need to worry. The losses will be recovered and investors should not worry," the China News Service quoted Li Rongrong, chairman of the agency in charge of big state corporations, as saying.
So far, official estimates put the damage from the storms at $7.5 billion. Last week, the government ordered banks in regions affected by the storms to relax limits on lending, also reassuring investors worried over inflation-fighting credit tightening policies.