Asian shares close higher as markets rebound on bargain hunting

Asian shares close higher as markets rebound on bargain hunting

	Published : Tue, 06 Mar 2007 08:48 By : Agencies Print this Story

HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - Shares across the Asia-Pacific region closed higher as bargain hunters emerged and markets rebounded from yesterday's slide, dealers said.

Tokyo shares ended higher on bargain hunting and the fall in the yen against the US dollar, although worries over the outlook for the US economy persisted, capping the market's advance, dealers said.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average finished up 202.25 points or 1.22 pct at 16,844.50, off the day's high of 16,882.92.

The TOPIX index of all first-section issues advanced 29.83 points or 1.79 pct to settle at 1,692.54, off a high of 1,694.36.

'Investors bought back shares after yesterday's steep fall and following a pause in the yen's climb, after the unwinding of yen carry trades appears to have run its course,' said Kazuhiro Takahashi, equity general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC.

A recovery in other East Asian stock markets also provided some relief to investors, he added.

'But investors kept their eyes fixed on the condition of the US economy, especially after recent weak data, including the latest manufacturing ISM survey and the upcoming (February) employment data later this week,' Takahashi said.

Australian shares closed sharply higher as investor sentiment rebounded on bargain hunting, dealers said.

They said sentiment was helped by gains in other Asian equity markets today while further gains will depend on the direction of US shares and commodity prices.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 118.2 points or 2.09 pct at the day's high of 5,771.8, regaining some of the loss from the record close of 6,044.0 set on Feb 26.

Hong Kong shares were sharply higher in afternoon trade, rebounding after yesterday's 4 pct drop as investors took note of mostly firmer regional markets including Tokyo and Shanghai, dealers said.

At 3.25 pm the Hang Seng Index had recovered 377.02 points or 2.02 pct to 19,041.90.

In mainland China, A-shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen closed higher on bargain hunting with financial issues and steel makers gaining ground, dealers said.

The Shanghai A-share Index was up 57.84 points or 1.98 pct to 2,984.44 and the Shenzhen A-share Index was up 5.52 points or 0.73 pct at 762.91.

Seoul shares finished sharply higher in a technical rebound, clawing back about a third of the past four days' plunge to reclaim the 1,400-point level, dealers said.

Exporters led the rally on hopes that their global competitiveness will improve on the won's turning weaker against the yen and the US dollar, they added.

The KOSPI index closed up 26.78 points or 1.95 pct at 1,402.93, off a low of 1,382.70 and a high of 1,403.75.

'The market rebounded from a very steep correction after hitting a new record high and today's sharp rebound implies that investor sentiment is quickly stabilizing,' Daewoo Securities analyst Kim Seong-Ju said.