Asian stock markets are mostly trading notably higher on Wednesday. Investors are picking up stocks on the back of a positive lead from Wall Street and on expectations of a global economic recovery thanks to some positive data from the Asian region and hopes of a solution to the Greek financial crisis.
In the Australian market, mining, energy, financial and consumer staples stocks are trading firm. Industrial, property trusts and information technology stocks are also finding good support.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is currently up 54.9 points or 1.3 percent at 4,317.6. The broader All Ordinaries index trading at 4,405.5, up 54.3 points or 1.2 percent over its previous close.
Among key bank stocks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are up 2.2 percent and 2 percent respectively, while ANZ Bank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia are up with modest gains.
Among top miners, BHP Billiton is gaining nearly 2 percent, while Rio Tinto is trading 0.8 percent up after early weakness.
In the energy sector, Woodside Petroleum, Santos and Origin Energy are up 0.5 to 1.3 percent, while Oil Search and Caltex Australia are trading modestly lower.
Alumina, Fortescue Metals, Boral, Suncorp Group, Mirvac Group and Orica are up 2 to 3.6 percent. Onesteel, Sonic Healthcare, Perseus Mining, Lend Lease Group, Stockland, Qantas Airways and Amcor are also trading notably higher.
Meanwhile, Tatts Group and Harvey Norman Holdings are down 5.5 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Myer Holdings Limited shares are trading lower by over 4 percent.
WorleyParsons is down 2.6 percent despite the company reporting an 18 percent surge in first-half profit. Goodman Fielder, Spark Infrastructure and JB Hi-Fi are also trading sharply lower.
On the economic front, total construction work done in Australia fell 4.6 percent in the December quarter, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Meanwhile, Australian retail spending rose 0.3 percent in January, according to data from the same bureau. Retail trade rose in the month to a seasonally adjusted A$20.95 billion from an upwardly revised A$20.89 billion in December.
According to a report from the Housing Industry Association, new homes sales declined 7.3 percent in January, seasonally adjusted, following a fall in December. The survey showed national detached house sales fell by 7.4 percent in January and multi-unit sales dropped 6.3 percent in the month.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened lower and was quoting at US$1.0756 in early trades, down 0.2 percent from Tuesday's close of US$1.0783.
The Japanese market surged higher on the back of encouraging data on industrial production in Japan and a positive overnight lead from Wall Street, where the Dow ended past the psychological 13,000 mark for the first time since May 2008.
Steel, non-ferrous metals, electric power, land transport and pulp & paper stocks moved higher. Financial, construction and chemicals stocks also traded firm, while mining and marine transport stocks traded mixed.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which rose to 9,850.2 after a firm start, was up 107.3 points or 1.1 percent at 9,829.8 at the end of the morning session.
Sumco Corp. shares gained nearly 7 percent. Advantest moved up by almost 5 percent.
Panasonic Corp, Chiyoda, Toshiba Corp, Sony Financial Holdings, MS&AD Insurance, SM Trust, Dainippon Screen, J Front Retailing, JFE Holdings, Mitsubishi Engineering & Shipbuilding, Nippon Steel, Pacific Metals and Dai-ichi Life gained 2.5 to 4 percent.
Nippon Light Metal, Credit Saison, Central Japan Railway, Nisshin Steel, Nippon Express, Chugai Pharma, Dowa Holdings, Kobe Steel and Softbank were also up sharply at the break.
Among bank stocks, Mizuho Financial gained over 4.5 percent. Shizuoka Bank, Shinsei Bank, Aozora Bank and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial surged 1.7 to 2.3 percent, while Bank of Yokohama, Chiba Bank and SMFG gained 1 to 1.2 percent.
In the automobile space, Nissan Motor, Isuzu Motors, Hino Motor and Suzuki Motor were trading modestly higher. Honda Motor, Mazda Motor and Toyota Motor traded weak, while Mitsubishi Motor hovered around its previous closing price.
Shares of Elpida Memory Inc. plunged 98 percent to 5 yen following the company filing for bankruptcy protection.
Nomura Holdings, Yokogawa Electric, Kirin Holdings, Fuji Electric and Fujitsu were trading in negative territory at the break, with sharp to moderate losses.
According to data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, industrial output in Japan climbed a seasonally adjusted 2.0 percent on month in January. That beat forecasts for an increase of 1.5 percent following the 3.8 percent gain in December.
On an annual basis, industrial production shed 1.2 percent - also topping forecasts for a contraction of 1.6 percent following the decline of 4.3 percent in the previous month.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar hovered around mid-80 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 80.64 to the U.S. dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong are trading notably higher. Malaysia and New Zealand are up with modest gains, while Shanghai is trading marginally lower. Markets across the region ended mostly higher on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher on Tuesday, although buying interest was somewhat subdued. The markets benefited from a positive reaction to upbeat consumer confidence data, which overshadowed some other disappointing data.
The major averages all ended the day in positive territory, with the Dow closing above 13,000 for the first time since May of 2008. The Dow edged up 23.6 points or 0.2 percent to 13,005.1, the Nasdaq rose 20.6 points or 0.7 percent to 2,986.8 and the S&P 500 climbed 4.6 points or 0.3 percent to 1,372.2.
Major European markets too ended with modest gains on Tuesday. While the German DAX index gained 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index gained 0.4 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil futures closed lower on Tuesday due to demand concerns after some downbeat economic data from the U.S. showed declines in orders for durable goods and home prices. However, a strong report on consumer confidence and a weak dollar lent some support for oil prices.
Light sweet crude for April delivery dropped $2.01 or 1.9 percent to close at $106.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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