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Asian stocks post strong gains
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian markets closed sharply higher Monday, led by South Korea, which surged almost 4 percent. Hong Kong posted a similarly strong result, up 3.3 percent. Taiwan and Australia also racked up solid gains, with rises of 1.85 percent and 1.48 percent respectively. The region's biggest market, Japan, was closed for the Culture Day holiday. Singapore, Malaysia and India were also closed to celebrate the Deepavali, or Diwali, holiday. The "festival of lights" is the biggest Hindu holiday of the year. New Zealand was virtually alone in closing in the red, slipping 0.17 percent. Asian markets got a push from a 2.3 percent jump in Nasdaq on Friday, and a 1.4 percent rise in the Dow Jones industrial average. U.S. stocks shook off a series of gloomy economic reports, including a rise in the jobless rate to 5.7 percent in October. (Full story) The regional focus this week is on Phnom Penh, where the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are holding their annual summit. Japan, China and South Korea are also attending. (Full story) Korea tops the regionIn South Korea, the Kospi showed the strongest gain in the Asia Pacific, up 3.86 percent to 672.68.
Samsung Electronics led the gains with a 7.77 percent leap to 362,000 won, aided by a rise in spot prices of specialty chips. Rival Hynix Semiconductor put on close to the daily 15 percent limit, ending at 520 won. Samsung's consumer electronics rival LG Electronics also surged, up 6.4 percent to 39,000 won. Most big caps are higher, with cell-phone company KT Corp up 3.4 percent to 51,200 won and SK Telecom up 1.35 percent to 225,500 won. Samsung SDI put on 6.43 percent to 79,500 won after introducing a new high-color screen last week. Stablemate Samsung Electro-mechanics soared 8.57 percent to 48,750 won. Australia solidly in blackIn Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index ended up 1.48 percent at 3,054.8, a relatively large gain for a generally restrained market. News Corp., the biggest listing, jumped a fiery 5.84 percent to A$11.124 as investors factored in an expected U.S. rate cut by the Fed on Tuesday. News also reports first-quarter results on Wednesday. Mining company BHP Billiton rose 2.86 percent to A$9.70, with Rio Tinto and WMC also closing higher. Commonwealth Bank, which issued a profit warning last Friday, ended just in the red. But the other big banks were broadly higher, with ANZ up 2.13 percent to A$18.66. Westpac reported full year results last week and NAB will report on Thursday. (Full story) Australian traders welcomed Canberra's announcement Sunday that it reached a landmark agreement with Singapore for a free-trade pact on goods and services. (Full story) In New Zealand, the benchmark Top 40 index closed down 0.17 percent at 2,036.19 despite a 1.56 percent rise in Telecom New Zealand, which ended at NZ$5.22. Fund manager and insurer Tower Ltd. plunged 44.2 percent to NZ$1.98 after it warned it will likely post a loss for the year and not pay a dividend. Tower shares in Australia lost a similar amount, off 43.5 percent. (Full story) Rate tip fuels H.K.Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished at 9,720.83, up 3.33 percent. Its rise was fueled by the likely U.S. interest rate cut. Hong Kong's interest rates track those in the United States, since Hong Kong's dollar is pegged to the U.S. dollar. HSBC, the largest stock traded in the city, closed up 1.75 percent at HK$87.25, with subsidiary Hang Seng up 2.39 percent to HK$85.75. U.S.-oriented stocks were also strong performers, small-motor maker Johnson Electric rising 7.64 percent to HK$8.45. Garment trader Li & Fung added 7.23 percent to HK$8.15. Telecom and ports company Hutchison Whampoa gained 4.77 percent to HK$50.50 despite a report it is likely to miss its year-end deadline to sign up paying customers for its fledgling "third-generation" cell-phone service in the United Kingdom. (Full story) Taiwan solidly higherTaiwan's Taiex locked in a solid 1.85 percent rise to 4,583.68. Electronics stocks drove the market, taking their cue from Nasdaq's gains. Chip foundry TSMC jumped 4.44 percent to T$47.00. Rival UMC added 3.70 percent to T$25.20. Screen maker Au Optronics topped the volume charts with a 6.19 percent leap to T$24.00. Banks were also solid gainers, Hua Nan Financial rising 5.67 percent to T$20.50 and First Commercial Bank surging the daily 7 percent limit to T$22.20.
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