People walk past an electronic stock indicator in Tokyo Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014. Asian stock markets rose Wednesday, tracking gains in the US that were spurred by stronger-than-expected retail sales. AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi
HONG KONG—Asia’s markets mostly rose on Wednesday after a surprisingly strong batch of retail data out of the United States eased concerns about the world’s No. 1 economy.
The better-than-forecast figures provided a springboard for a rally on Wall Street and gave some support for the dollar against the yen.
Tokyo led gainers to surge 2.50 percent—its best performance of 2014 helping it claw back some of the losses of more than three percent suffered on Tuesday. The Nikkei ended 386.33 points higher at 15,808.73.
Sydney rose 0.64 percent, or 33.4 points, to 5,245.4 and Seoul added 0.37 percent, or 7.21 points, to 1,953.28.
Hong Kong ended 0.49 percent higher, adding 110.72 points, to 22,902.00 but Shanghai closed down 0.17 percent, or 3.49 points, at 2,023.35.
The US Commerce Department said retail sales—a key gauge of the consumer spending that drives the economy—rose 0.2 percent in December, upending estimates of no change.
That figure is an even more impressive 0.7 percent if a sharp fall in auto sales is taken out of the equation owing to severe cold weather across the country.
Tuesday’s figure boosted Wall Street’s main indexes, with the Dow jumping 0.71 percent, the S&P 500 up 1.08 percent and the Nasdaq adding 1.69 percent.
It also soothed concerns about the world’s No. 1 economy after Friday’s disappointing jobs report that had fueled speculation the Federal Reserve could hold off announcing any further cuts to its stimulus program when it meets later this month.
“A gradual US economic recovery and an incremental tapering (of US monetary stimulus) will likely continue,” Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Currency traders moved back into the dollar after it sank on Friday and Monday after the jobs report.
The dollar bought 104.30 yen in afternoon Tokyo trade compared with 104.20 in New York and much stronger than the 103.43 yen in Asia earlier Tuesday.
The euro was trading at 142.30 yen against 142.52 yen but well up from the 141.27 yen Tuesday in Tokyo.
The yen faced added downward pressure from news Japan’s current account deficit had ballooned to a record 592.8 billion yen in November.
The single currency fetched $1.3640 compared with $1.3677 in New York.
In Tokyo Japan Airlines rose 1.33 percent despite earlier announcing that it has grounded one of its Dreamliner jets after discovering “white smoke” apparently coming from a battery system during a check-up for departure.
GS Yuasa, the battery maker that supplies lithium-ion batteries for the planes, slipped 0.68 percent.
On oil markets New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for February delivery, was down two cents to $92.57 a barrel in afternoon trade, while Brent North Sea crude for February dropped 12 cents to $106.27.
Gold fetched $1,239.10 at 1105 GMT compared with $1,249.20 late Tuesday.
In other markets:
— Bangkok lost 1.45 percent, or 18.84 points, to 1,277.03.
Coal producer Banpu dropped 4.46 percent to 26.75 baht, while Airports of Thailand gained 4.08 percent to 166 baht.
— Jakarta gained 1.16 percent, or 50.82 points, to 4,441.60.
Mobile provider Indosat added 6.18 percent to 4,295 rupiah, while paper firm Pabrik Kertas Tjiwi Kimia fell 3.63 percent to 1,725 rupiah.
— Kuala Lumpur lost 0.60 percent, or 10.94 points, to 1,824.03.
Financial firm CIMB Group Holdings shed 2.9 percent to 7.09 ringgit, while palm oil giant Sime Darby fell 1.0 percent to 9.21.
— Taipei rose 0.64 percent, or 54.41 points, to 8602.55.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. added 1.45 percent to Tw$105.0 while leading chip design house MediaTek was 0.84 percent higher at Tw$419.0.
— Manila added 0.38 percent, or 22.56 points, to 5,958.12.
Ayala Corp. added 1.24 percent to close at 530 pesos and Aboitiz Equity Ventures rose 2.26 percent at 54.20 pesos.
— Mumbai jumped 1.22 percent, or 256.61 points, to 21,289.49.
Engineering giant Larsen and Toubro rose 2.71 percent to 998.8 rupees while private ICICI Bank rose 2.00 percent to 1,058.35 rupees.
— Singapore climbed 0.62 percent, or 19.50 points, to 3,143.25.
Oil rig maker Keppel Corp. dropped 0.09 percent to Sg$10.85 while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation gained 0.31 percent to Sg$9.73.
— Wellington jumped 0.98 percent, or 47.88 points, to 4,913.03.