Most Asian stocks rose for a second consecutive session on Wednesday, after the Greek government won a vote of confidence from parliament, taking embattled prime minister George Papandreou a step closer to pushing through austerity measures to avoid a sovereign default.
Crude and copper prices edged lower in Asian trading as the euro fell against the dollar and the yen on speculation Greece will struggle to pass an austerity package. All eyes remained on the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy statement that will come out later in the global day.
The Japanese market rallied, extending its gains for the third day, as receding worries about a Greek default spurred short covering. The benchmark Nikkei average closed 1.8 percent higher at a three-week closing high and the broader Topix index gained 1.6 percent. Brokerages saw broad-based gains paring their recent sharp losses. Daiwa Securities Group climbed 4.3 percent while Nomura Holdings rose 2.4 percent.
Sony jumped 3.7 percent after U.K. police arrested a 19 year-old man who may be linked to the online hacker group LulzSec. Softbank soared 4.4 percent following an announcement that Sony, Yahoo! Inc. and Alibaba Group are making "substantive and encouraging progress" toward an agreement on the status of Alipay, an online payment service developed by Alibaba. Elpida Memory jumped 4.2 percent on news that it has developed the world's thinnest mobile DRAM chip package.
China's Shanghai Composite index reversed an early loss to end marginally higher, with lenders such as Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank leading the gains on bargain hunting after recent declines.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended on a flat note, as gains in cement producers offset losses in banking shares.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose about half a percent and the broader Topix index closed up 0.6 percent, on hopes that Greece will be able to avoid a default on its debt. Big miner BHP Billiton rose 1.1 percent, rival Rio Tinto gained 1.5 percent and Fortescue edged up 0.3 percent. ANZ led the banking sector higher, rising 0.8 percent, while Commonwealth rose 0.7 percent, Westpac added 0.4 percent and NAB edged up 0.2 percent.
Oil and gas producer Woodside gained half a percent, Oil Search rose 0.4 percent and Santos posted a modest 0.1 percent gain. Retailer Woolworths rose 0.1 percent, but Wesfarmers lost a percent. Qantas edged up 0.3 percent after the airline released its revised estimates for annual profit. Fosters rose 1.2 percent, extending its recent gains, on speculation that the brewer would succumb to a higher offer from SABMiller..
South Korea's Kospi average closed 0.8 percent higher, helped by firm gains in technology, oil refining and chemical shares. Samsung Electronics rose 1.5 percent, Hynix Semiconductor edged up 0.8 percent, S-Oil advanced 1.8 percent and SK Chemicals climbed 3.5 percent.
Creditors-turned-shareholders of Hynix, in a public notice on Tuesday, said they launched their third attempt to sell their $2.1 billion stake in the world's second-largest computer memory chip maker, seeking to close the deal by the end of this year. Shares in Industrial Bank of Korea plunged almost 10 percent on the buzz that the government may sell a stake in the bank at a discount.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX-50 closed little changed with a negative bias, extending declines for the fifth day. Methven, the tapware maker, slumped 6.5 percent and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp., the manufacturer of breathing masks and respirators, tumbled 3.7 percent on going ex-dividend. New Zealand Refining plunged 4.1 percent after the company said it has appointed Tim Wall, operations manager at BP's Bulwer Island Refinery in Queensland, to its board following the resignation of Grant Warner.
Heartland New Zealand, the would-be bank formerly known as Building Society Holdings, lost 2.7 percent amid reports that it is looking to remove itself from the government's retail deposits guarantee scheme before its expiry. Vector, the Auckland electricity and gas distributor, climbed 2.4 percent following an analyst upgrade.
India's benchmark Sensex is swinging between gains and losses, as reports about India resuming talks with Mauritius on the double tax avoidance treaty and the weather office's prediction of a "below normal" monsoon this year overshadowed relief over Greek bailout.
Elsewhere, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite was up 0.4 percent and the Taiwan Weighted moved up 0.3 percent, while Malaysia's KLSE and Singapore's Straits Times were little changed.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.