Asian equities regain lost momentum on upbeat US economic reports

17 Feb 2012 Evaluate

A day after closing on a dismal note, Asian equity indices regained the lost momentum and bounced back after investors showed renewed buying interests on the back of sanguine global cues. Sentiments got buoyed on reports that ECB had agreed to exchange Greek bonds they hold for new bonds as part of a deal to help the debt-strapped country. Also the overnight rally on Wall Street boosted investors’ confidence in Asia as encouraging US economic reports spurred hopes that the world’s largest economy is revitalizing. American jobless claims slid to a nearly four-year low while the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing index in February rose to 10.2, the highest level since October and better than expected.

The benchmark in Japan led the rally in Asian space with close to two percent rally on the back of upbeat US economy reports and depreciation in yen to near a four-month low which boosted the outlook for export oriented stocks. The index in China though trimmed initial gains and traded with marginal losses in the session.

Hang Seng climbed 171.58 points or 0.81% to 21,448.86, Jakarta Composite advanced 20.82 points or 0.53% to 3,948.43, KLSE Composite gained 7.84 points or 0.51% to 1,558.33, Nikkei 225 spurted 166.79 points or 1.81% to 9,404.89, Straits Times amassed 15.16 points or 0.51% to 2,992.36, Seoul Composite surged 28.92 points or 1.45% to 2,026.37 and Taiwan Weighted added 9.34 points or 0.25% to 7,889.04.

On the flipside, Shanghai Composite eased marginally 2.13 points or 0.09% to 2,354.73.

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