People walk on a street of Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district Wednesday, May 15, 2013. Enthusiasm on Wall Street sparked by another positive report on the US economy helped push most Asian stock markets higher Wednesday. AP PHOTO/ITSUO INOUYE
HONG KONG—Asian shares were mostly higher Wednesday, with the tumbling yen pushing Japanese stocks to a fresh multi-year high as improving confidence in the US economy boosted prospects for regional exporters.
Tokyo jumped 2.29 percent, climbing above the psychologically key 15,000-mark for the first time in more than five years to end at 15,096.03 as the greenback surged through the 102-yen level following record-setting gains on Wall Street.
“Renewed yen weakening should help Japan stocks to set fresh year highs, helped by fresh investor fund flows and faith in an accelerating global economy,” said SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi.
Sydney fell 0.56 percent, or 29.3 points, to 5,191.7 after the government’s austere budget, unveiled late Tuesday, which pushed back its plans to return to a surplus by four years.
Seoul gained 0.12 percent, or 2.43 points to 1,971.26, Hong Kong climbed 0.50 percent, or 113.96 points, to 23,044.24 and Shanghai rose 0.35 percent, or 7.79 points, to 2,224.80.
US stocks surged to new all-time closing highs Tuesday on renewed optimism after a prominent hedge fund manager said the stock rally of 2013 still had room to go higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.82 percent to a record 15,215.25. The broad-based S&P 500 also reached a new high, adding 1.01 percent to 1,650.36.
Analysts said there was little fresh news to drive the gains, but pointed to bullish investor David Tepper, head of the Appaloosa Management hedge fund group, who told CNBC that the market could still go higher.
Recent economic data from the United States has pointed toward a steady recovery in the world’s largest economy.
On Monday the United States announced a slight improvement in consumer spending, with retail sales in April touching $419.0 billion, up from $418.7 billion the previous month, boosting the earnings outlook for Asian exporters.
The April jobs report in early May was also stronger than expected. The US economy added 165,000 new positions and February and March job growth numbers were revised sharply upwards.
Inflation data, which is due on Thursday, will be the next key US release.
The dollar was at 102.70 yen in European trade compared with 102.21 yen in New York late Tuesday—well above the mid-101 yen range a day earlier in Tokyo.
The euro bought $1.2864 and 132.14 yen compared with $1.2935 and 132.29 yen in New York.
Oil was up in Asian trade, with New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, gaining 11 cents to $94.32 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for June delivery adding 10 cents to $102.70.
Gold was at $1,409 at 1055 GMT compared with $1,428.40 on Tuesday.
In other markets:
— Taipei rose 0.81 percent, or 66.77 points, to 8,318.59.
HTC rose 0.53 percent to Tw$282.0 while TSMC was 0.43 percent lower at Tw$115.0.
— Wellington was flat, edging up 0.47 points to 4,646.33.
Telecom Corp. was down 2.06 percent at NZ$2.62 while Fletcher Building climbed 1.05 percent to NZ$8.70.
— Manila jumped 1.08 percent, or 78.74 points, to 7,392.20.
Top-traded SM Investment gained 1.37 percent to 1,181 pesos while Philippine Long Distance Telephone rose 1.25 percent to 3,250 pesos.
— Singapore gained 0.26 percent, or 8.77 points, to 3,441.53.
United Overseas Bank rose 0.96 percent to Sg$22.00 while real estate developer CapitaLand shed 0.79 percent to Sg$3.78.
— Bangkok added 0.41 percent, or 6.61 points, to 1,630.09.
Coal producer Banpu gained 0.92 percent to 329 baht, while energy giant PTT rose 1.50 percent to 339 baht.
— Jakarta was up 0.16 percent, or 7.94 points, at 5,089.88.
Cigarette maker Gudang Garam rose 1.8 percent to 53,600 rupiah, while mobile service provider Indosat lost 1.72 percent to 5,700 rupiah.
— Kuala Lumpur fell 0.30 percent, or 5.40 points, to 1,783.03.
IOI Corp. lost 3.3 percent to 5.28 ringgit, while Petronas Chemicals Group gained 1.2 percent to 6.60 ringgit.
— Mumbai closed up 2.49 percent, or 490.67 points, at 20,212.96.
Jet Airways closed up 1.18 percent at 580.95 rupees and Tata Motors closed up 2.63 percent at 308.40 rupees.—Anuj Chopra with Dow Jones Newswires