A man walks past an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014. Asian stocks rose Wednesday, led by Tokyo’s Nikkei index, which hit a fresh seven-year high as the yen slumped further amid speculation of a snap Japanese election. AP PHOTO/EUGENE HOSHIKO
HONG KONG–Asian markets were mostly higher Wednesday as Tokyo extended a rally after the dollar broke 116 yen for the first time in seven years, while speculation swirls that Japan may put off another unpopular sales tax hike.
Wall Street provided support for buyers again after the Dow and S&P 500 squeezed out another record for a fifth straight session, while investors await the release this week of Chinese indicators and a G20 summit at the weekend.
Tokyo added 0.43 percent, or 72.94 points, at 17,197.05, Seoul rose 0.22 percent, or 4.27 points, to close at 1,967.27 and Hong Kong advanced 0.55 percent, or 129.90 points, to 23,938.18, while Shanghai put on 1.00 percent, or 24.81 points, to 2,494.48.
However, Sydney gave up 0.98 percent, or 54.0 points, to close at 5,463.1.
Japanese shares have surged almost 12 percent since the end of October, helped by the Bank of Japan’s decision to widen its monetary easing, which sent the yen plunging.
They were given fresh momentum Wednesday as investors digested speculation that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is mulling a delay to a sales tax hike as the economy struggles to overcome the impact of a rise in April.
The increase seven months ago has been blamed for throwing a tentative economic recovery into reverse and threatens another technical recession.
Japan election talk
Major Japanese newspapers reported Wednesday that Abe may call a snap election next month if he decides to put off the second tax hike.
His ruling coalition would be likely to win the election, which would be greeted positively by the stock market and trigger fresh yen-selling, analysts said.
In foreign exchange deals, the dollar was at 115.38 yen against 115.74 yen in New York, where it at one point topped 116 yen for the first time since October 2007.
The euro jumped to 144.06 yen, compared with 144.38 yen in US trade, while it also bought $1.2485 against $1.2474.
“Speculation about the sales tax deferment is going to cause the currency markets to be volatile for a while, and that could result in more stock market volatility as well,” said Masayuki Doshida, senior market analyst at Rakuten Securities.
On Wall Street, the Dow ended higher, adding 0.01 percent, while the S&P 500 edged up 0.07 percent, both posting record closes for five straight sessions. The Nasdaq added 0.19 percent.
Oil prices slipped. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for December delivery fell 59 cents to $77.35 while Brent crude for December was down 70 cents at $80.97.
Gold was at $1,163.87 an ounce, compared with $1,151.05 late Tuesday.
In other markets:
— Mumbai advanced 0.35 percent, or 98.84 points, to end at 28,008.90.
Axis Bank rose 3.02 percent to 480.90 rupees, while pharmaceutical major Cipla fell 3.06 percent to 618.50 rupees.
— Bangkok fell 0.58 percent, or 9.17 points, to 1,562.03.
Bangkok Life Assurance lost 6.64 percent to 52.75 baht, while Bangchak Petroleum dropped 2.14 percent to 34.25 baht.
— Jakarta closed 0.33 percent higher, or 16.56 points, at 5,048.84.
Cement maker Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa gained 1.08 percent to 23,425 rupiah and cigarette maker Gudang Garam rose 0.04 percent to 60,275 rupiah.
— Singapore closed down 0.26 percent, or 8.44 points, to 3,283.71.
Oil rig maker Keppel Corp. fell 1.06 percent to Sg$9.31 while vehicle distributor Jardine Cycle & Carriage declined 0.25 percent to Sg$40.34.
Kuala Lumpur fell 8.87 points, or 0.49 percent, to close at 1,816.24.
AMMB Holdings went down 2.0 percent to 6.36 ringgit while Maybank lost 1.43 percent to 9.65. Tenaga Nasional gained 1.98 percent to 13.40 ringgit.
— Taipei fell 1.28 percent, or 115.19 points, to 8,918.95.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. lost 1.49 percent to end at Tw$132.0 while Acer was 1.23 percent lower at Tw$20.0.
— Wellington was flat, edging down 2.90 points to 5,487.88.
Fletcher Building closed 1.40 percent off at NZ$8.45 and Spark eased 0.15 percent to NZ$3.24.
— Manila closed 0.39 percent higher, adding 28.32 points to 7,232.87.
Bloomberry Resorts climbed 2.90 percent to 13.50 pesos and GT Capital was 1.84 percent up at 1,052.00 pesos, while Ayala Land advanced 1.73 percent to 35.35 pesos.