Asian shares close higher on Wall St rebound; Tokyo at 4-month high

Asian shares close higher on Wall St rebound; Tokyo at 4-month high

	Published : Mon, 18 Jun 2007 08:53 By : Agencies Print this Story

HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - Shares across the Asia-Pacific region closed higher after a firm close on Wall Street on Friday night and strong interest in China stocks, dealers said.

Tokyo shares closed higher, pushing the Nikkei 225 to near its best level in four months, as investors cheered Wall Street's rally on Friday, with a softer yen also boosting exporters.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average ended up 178.03 points or 0.99 pct at 18,149.52, off its intraday peak of 18,194.26. It is the second highest closing since the blue-chip gauge settled at 18,215.35 on Feb 26.

The TOPIX index of all first-section issues rose 15.45 points or 0.87 pct to finish at 1,788.39, off the day's high of 1,791.81.

Kazuhiro Takahashi, equity general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC, said: 'Investor sentiment was buoyed by Wall Street's rally (last Friday) after tame inflation data eased worries about inflation.'

The US core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.1 pct in May, slower than the 0.2 pct increase Wall Street had expected. The data sent the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 5.16 pct Friday from 5.23 pct late Thursday.

Australian shares finished higher with investor sentiment buoyed by the US stock market rebound on Friday, which saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average record its highest 3-day gain since November 2004.

Diversified miner Rio Tinto touched 100 aud per share before pulling back below that level - the first company on the Australian Stock Exchange to reach 100 aud since the late 1960's. Fellow global miner BHP Billiton also hit a record close.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 49.6 points or 0.79 pct at 6,343.4, below the day's high of 6,355.8 and above a low of 6,304.0. The key index is still below its record close of 6,392.9 set on June 4.

Hong Kong shares were sharply higher in afternoon trade as strong interest in China stocks, particularly financial and telecom counters, helped push the benchmark index to a new record.

Expectations of some positive policy announcements by mainland authorities ahead of the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's hand over to China on July 1 fuelled strong interest in H-shares, dealers said.

Sentiment was also supported by Wall Street's gains Friday.

At 3.25 pm the Hang Seng Index was up 462.25 points or 2.20 pct at 21,479.29.

In mainland China, A-shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen closed higher on easing concerns about further government moves to tighten credit, with financial and steel stocks leading the gains, dealers said.

They said there were fears the government would announce moves to curb overheating in the economy over the weekend, after Premier Wen Jiabao last week urged the government to pursue 'moderate tightening.' But investors were relieved when no such announcement came.

The Shanghai A-share Index was up 127.03 points or 2.93 pct at 4,461.62 and the Shenzhen A-share Index was up 36.28 points or 2.83 pct at 1,316.97.

Seoul shares closed sharply higher, rising past the 1,800-point mark for the first time, with investors encouraged by Wall Street's strong gains on Friday.

Firmer regional markets and easing geopolitical risks also provided a boost, after North Korea invited UN atomic inspectors to discuss the shutdown of its nuclear reactor.

The KOSPI index closed up 34.62 points or 1.95 pct at a record 1,806.88, extending its gains to a third successive session. The low for the day was 1,784.44 and the high was 1,807.51.