Asian shares rise after Wall St. rally
People walk by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013. Asian markets mostly rose on Monday, Oct. 21, with sentiment buoyed by last week’s deal in Washington to avert a default as well as a record close on Wall Street. AP PHOTO/KOJI SASAHARA
HONG KONG—Asian markets mostly rose on Monday, with sentiment buoyed by last week’s deal in Washington to avert a default as well as a record close on Wall Street.
The yen slipped against the dollar and euro in afternoon trading after data showed Japan logged a record 15th consecutive monthly trade deficit.
Tokyo rose 0.91 percent, or 132.03 points, to 14,693.57; Seoul was flat, edging up 0.61 points to 2,053.01; and Sydney advanced 0.57 percent, or 30.3 points, to 5,351.8.
Shanghai jumped 1.62 percent, or 35.46 points, to 2,229.24 and Hong Kong added 0.42 percent, or 98.05 points, to close at 23,438.15.
With the US shutdown and default crisis out of the way for the time being, investors are now eyeing the delayed release of US non-farm payrolls data on Tuesday.
The figures, delayed because of the shutdown, will give investors a better idea of the state of the US economy and could have a bearing on when the Federal Reserve winds down its stimulus.
Asian investors took a positive lead from New York Friday, where the S&P 500 surged 0.65 percent to another record, while the Dow put on 0.18 percent.
The Nasdaq jumped 1.32 percent to highs not seen since September 2000 thanks to a surge in Google shares, which topped $1,000 after the Internet giant posted a 36 percent rise in third-quarter net profit.
In forex trade the yen eased after Tokyo announced its trade deficit had expanded 64.1 percent in September to $9.5 billion as energy import costs balloon owing to a weaker currency and the ongoing shutdown of nuclear power stations.
However, there was some good news in the data, which showed exports rose 11.5 percent, helped by a surge in shipments to China as relations thaw despite a territorial dispute with Beijing.
The dollar bought 98.10 yen in afternoon trade against 97.72 yen in New York Friday, while the euro was at $1.3678 and 134.12 yen, compared with $1.3682 and 133.75.
In oil trade New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in November, dipped 39 cents to $100.42 a barrel in afternoon trade. Brent North Sea crude for December was down 34 cents at $109.61.
Gold cost $1,315.41 at 1020 GMT compared with $1,321.80 on Friday.
In other markets:
— Bangkok lost 2.44 percent, or 36.18 points, to 1,448.54.
Airports of Thailand dropped 5.07 percent to 206.00 baht, while telecoms company True Corporation fell 6.60 percent to 9.20 baht.
— Jakarta gained 0.70 percent, or 31.61 points, to 4,578.18.
Retailer Hero Supermarket jumped 9.09 percent to 3,900 rupiah, while Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper fell 1.36 percent to 1,450 rupiah.
— Kuala Lumpur climbed 0.17 percent, or 3.02 points, to 1,802.61.
AMMB rose 0.54 percent to 7.50 ringgit, Malayan Banking added 0.60 percent to 9.99 while Telekom Malaysia lost 0.19 percent to 5.14 ringgit.
— Manila fell 0.16 percent down, or 10.27 points, to 6,597.56.
Metropolitan Bank and Trust fell 2.8 percent to 89.40 pesos and Ayala Land dropped 0.77 percent to 2,834 pesos.
— Mumbai edged up 0.05 percent, or 11.0 points, to 20,893.89.
Private Federal Bank jumped 9.88 percent to 78.40 rupees while engineering giant Larsen and Toubro rose 6.5 percent to 925.15 rupees.
— Singapore rose 0.09 percent, or 2.86 points, to 3,195.76.
United Overseas Bank gained 0.44 percent at Sg$20.79 and agribusiness company Wilmar International rose 0.91 percent to Sg$3.34.
— Taipei dropped 0.26 percent, or 21.87 points, to 8,419.32.
Chip design house MediaTek fell 0.89 percent to Tw$391.5 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was unchanged at Tw$110.0.
— Wellington added 0.92 percent, or 43.97 points, to 4,802.56.
Telecoms firm Chorus climbed 2.0 percent to NZ$2.50, Fletcher Building rose 0.1 percent to NZ$9.51 and Telecom was steady at NZ$2.28.
