Asian stock markets climbed on Wednesday, helped by signs of progress over debt restructuring talks in Greece, while the Tokyo market tapped a three-month high as Toyota Motor surged. Earlier, Asian markets took a lead from Wall Street, which ended higher on Tuesday on hopes for action on the euro-zone’s debt crisis and growing optimism that a stronger US job market signalled a recovery for the world's number one economy.
The optimistic mood in markets sent the Seoul’s benchmark Kospi index up to a six-month high of 2,003.73. However, the gains were capped ahead of Thursday’s options expiry. While, Hong Kong shares hit a six-month high, led by Chinese oil, property and material names, but gains were capped by chart resistance. Meanwhile, Japanese Nikkei closed above the 9,000-mark for the first time in 3 months, boosted by profit outlook from Toyota Motor Corp and optimism over US economic growth.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,347.53 | 55.63 | 2.43 |
Hang Seng | 21,018.46 | 319.27 | 1.54 |
Jakarta Composite | 3,988.70 | 33.25 | 0.84 |
Nikkei 225 | 9,015.59 | 98.07 | 1.10 |
Straits Times | 2,982.20 | 24.42 | 0.83 |
Seoul Composite | 2,003.73 | 22.14 | 1.12 |
Taiwan Weighted | 7,869.91 | 162.47 | 2.11 |