Forexpros - Asian stocks moved broadly higher Tuesday, following Wall Street's overnight rebound and encouraged by the U.S. Federal Reserve decision to keep interest rates low through the middle of 2013.
During early Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index picked up 3.4% to 19,993.78, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose 1.8% 9,103.54, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 2.7% to 4,142.60 and South Korea's Kospi Index gained 2.2% to 1,841.19.
Along with the Nikkei, the broader-based Topix Index of all issues listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange advanced 1.5% to 781.90.
In Monday's U.S. session the aftermath of Standard and Poor's decision to downgrade the U.S. credit rating sent Wall Street shares to their sixth worst loss ever. Asian markets followed suit in Tuesday trade with the Hang Seng and Kospi Indexes dropping 12% and 13% respectively over the past week.
But in the Federal Open Market Committee's Tuesday meeting, the U.S. Central Bank voted to extend ultra-low interest rates at 0.25% until at least the middle of 2013, allaying Asian investors who remained concerned about global growth prospects..
Wall Street shares, in a rocky session, rebounded strongly by the end of Tuesday trade, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 3.98%, the Nasdaq Composite Index added 5.3%, and the S&P 500 jumped 4.74%.
Financial issues were among early winners in the region with HSBC Holdings PLC higher by 4.1%, Bank of China Ltd. up 4.5%, and Commonwealth Bank of Australia gaining 1.7% after it reported a USD6.6 billion profit for the fiscal year, up 13% from a year ago.
Shares of South Korea's LG Electronics Corp. were sharply higher by 4.6%, but still down nearly 20% for the week.
The outlook for European stocks was pessimistic. France's CAC 40 futures was lower by 0.62% to 3,195.30, Britain's FTSE 100 futures fell 0.91% to 5,188.50, while Germany's DAX futures dropped 0.65% to 5,970.90.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
