Tokyo, Sydney stocks climb despite Egypt fears
HONG KONG — Asian markets mostly rose on Friday with Japanese and Australian stocks lifted by positive signals from both economies, even as uncertainty about Egypt kept oil prices around the…
HONG KONG — Asian markets mostly rose on Friday with Japanese and Australian stocks lifted by positive signals from both economies, even as uncertainty about Egypt kept oil prices around the $100 mark.With most other Asian markets closed for Lunar New Year, Tokyo's Nikkei index ended the session up 1.08 percent, or 112.16 points, at 10,543.52, while Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.87 percent, or 42.1 points, to 4,862.7.Japanese stocks were boosted by news of a planned merger between the country's largest steel-maker Nippon Steel and third-ranked Sumitomo Metal Industries, which would create the world's second-largest steel firm.Traders said the plan boosted prospects for consolidation generally in the under-pressure Japanese economy, while the market was also supported by a run of strong corporate earnings reports, including from top banking group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.By the closing bell, Sumitomo Metal stocks had surged 16 percent, while Nippon Steel was up nearly 10 percent."There are hopes that (the steel sector) realignment will spread to other sectors," Okasan Securities strategist Hideyuki Ishiguro told Dow Jones Newswires. "The foreign investor perspective on Japanese firms is becoming more positive."Sydney meanwhile was supported by relatively positive comments from the Reserve Bank of Australia.The central bank said it would "look through" the effects of catastrophic floods in December and January, keeping policy focused on containing the country's mining boom and a rapidly tightening labour market.The RBA's February monetary policy statement said economic growth would be weaker in the near-term due to the floods, but come back strongly in the second half of 2011 as rebuilding efforts in Queensland gather momentum, mining investment grows and commodity prices remain elevated.Traders generally were looking ahead to January jobs data from the United States later Friday for cues on the health of the world's largest economy."Market expectations for a speedy recovery of the US economy are
last modification 2011-02-04 11:30:02
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