Asian shares rose across the board on Wednesday, with a positive close on Wall Street overnight and renewed hopes of a Greek debt deal keeping sentiment buoyant.
A Greek official said yesterday the government and international creditors were drafting a plan detailing austerity measures and the terms and conditions of the new 130-billion bailout deal, lifting the euro to a two-month high against the dollar. The Japanese yen fell broadly after government figures showed Japan's current account surplus fell to a 15-year low in 2011.
Political negotiations in Greece will continue today to discuss unpopular austerity measures. In addition, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos will also hold last-minute negotiations with the troika of creditors, namely the EU, ECB and IMF to work on further austerity measures needed to obtain another aid package.
Tokyo stocks rebounded Wednesday, with the Nikkei average rising 1.1 percent to close above the psychologically important 9,000 line for the first time in more than three months, as Toyota Motor raised its profit forecast and the yen's fall helped by dollar demand from Japanese importers lifted other export-related stocks. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished 1.2 percent higher.
Canon rose 1.5 percent, Fanuc gained 1.1 percent, Sharp edged up 0.6 percent and Sony ended almost 2 percent higher. Toyota Motor jumped 5 percent after the automaker raised its annual profit forecast to ¥200 billion from ¥180 billion, citing recovering auto demand at home and abroad.
Nissan Motor, which beat estimates with a 3.2 percent rise in fiscal third-quarter net profit, added 2.4 percent and Honda Motor advanced 2.7 percent. Fujitsu, Panasonic and Renesas Electronics jumped 3-10 percent on news that the trio are in discussions to integrate their system system chip operations.
Australian shares gained ground as worries over Greece eased. Both the S&P/ASX 200 and the broader All Ordinaries index gained around 0.4 percent each, while the Australian dollar hovered around a six-month high.
Energy stocks paced the gainers as Nymex oil futures traded firm near $99 a barrel after an industry report showed oil supplies declined 4.5 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 3. Woodside Petroleum rose 2.4 percent, Santos surged up 1.7 percent and Oil Search added 0.8 percent.
NAB extended the previous session's 4 percent loss, falling 1.2 percent on earnings disappointment, while investment bank Macquarie Group rebounded 3.1 percent. BHP Billiton shed 0.4 percent after the Anglo-Australian mining company reported a lower-than-expected first-half profit, hit by rising costs and lower output.
Rival Rio Tinto advanced 1.1 percent while Fortescue rallied 3.2 percent on winning conditional approval for the expansion of its Cloudbreak iron-ore mine in the Pilbara region. Alumina shares slipped 1.2 percent after aluminum major Alcoa said it is reviewing operations at its Geelong smelter.
South Korea's Kospi ended 1.1 percent higher, climbing the psychologically significant 2,000 mark for the first time since Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S.'s AAA credit rating in August. Economy-sensitive shipbuilders rallied on expectations the industry outlook will improve after the fourth quarter. Hyundai Heavy soared 5.9 percent, Samsung Heavy Industries jumped 5.6 percent and Daewoo Shipbuilding climbed 4.8 percent.
GS Holdings rallied 4.4 percent and S-Oil gained 5.8 percent after Saudi Arabia said it would ensure a stable supply of crude to Korea if imports are disrupted by an embargo on Iran. Among the other prominent gainers, construction firm Hyundai Engineering rose 2.9 percent, Korean Air Lines, South Korea's largest carrier, soared 4.8 percent and chipmaker Hynix added 4.3 percent.
New Zealand shares posted modest gains, with the benchmark NZX-50 rising 0.3 percent, after Tower said it will consider returning capital to shareholders and Hallenstein Glasson Holdings reported a 25 percent rise in first-half earnings, aided by higher sales and improved margins. Shares of the insurer climbed 4 percent while those of clothing retailer gained 2.3 percent.
DNZ Property Fund added 0.8 percent after announcing the sale of its Hunter Street office building in Wellington for $20.3 million. Guinness Peat Group rose 0.9 percent after the investment company agreed to sell minority stakes in four food companies to ASX-listed Mariner Corp. Fletcher Building, the nation's largest construction company, advanced 1.1 percent and phone company Telecom edged up 0.2 percent, but Warehouse Group lost 2.8 percent.
Elsewhere, China's Shanghai Composite index jumped 2.4 percent, led by energy shares after the government announced a 300 yuan per ton hike in fuel prices from Wednesday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.5 percent, India's Sensex was last trading up 0.1 percent in volatile trading, Indonesia's Jakarata Composite was up 0.8 percent, Singapore's Straits Times gained 0.8 percent and the Taiwan Weighted rallied 2.1 percent.
On Wall Street, stocks recovered after early weakness to end modestly higher overnight, with reports that Greece could be nearing a rescue deal helping buoy sentiment to some extent. The Dow rose 0.3 percent, the Nasdaq edged up 0.1 percent and the S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.