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Asia stocks climb as North Korean fears ebb; Nikkei up 0.62%

Published 12/19/2011, 09:26 PM
Updated 12/19/2011, 09:31 PM
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Investing.com - Asian stock markets rose Tuesday, reversing Monday's heavy selloff stemming from the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong il.

During morning Asian trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.70%, Australia's S&P/ASX200 was up 0.19%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index was up 0.62%.

On Monday, reports out of North Korea that the country's former leader Kim Jong il had died sparked a selloff amid a fear-based flight to ditch equities and dash for the safety of the greenback.

As the world digested the news and events continued to unfold with relative calm Tuesday, investors tip-toed back into equities markets as Tuesday's session opened in Asia.

In Australia, meanwhile, central bank minutes revealed monetary policy officials cut interest rates recently on fears the European crisis will eventually slow activity worldwide.

Furthermore, European Central Bank officials continued to voice their opposition to quantitative easing, which are asset purchases from banks designed to increase liquidity and offset economic contraction and downward price pressures, although stock market are putting such statements behind them.

Hong Kong's leading gainers included COSCO Pacific, up 2.73%, Sino Land, up 1.69%, and China Unicom, up 1.65%.

In Australia, leading companies included Medusa Mining, up 6.55%, Macmahon Holdings, up 4.59%, and OceanaGold Corp., up 4.46%.

European stock futures were up as the market took a breather from pessimism emanating from threats by ratings agencies to downgrade a large swathe of Europe.

Futures traders also shrugged off sentiment that the European Central Bank was not planning to act as a lender of last resort.

During Asian trade, France ’s CAC 40 futures were up 0.52%, while Germany ’s DAX 30 futures were up 0.66%. Meanwhile, in the U.K., FTSE 100  futures were up 0.46%.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.46% while the broader S&P 500 futures were up 0.60%.

Later Tuesday, the Bank of Japan will decide whether or not to move on interest rates, with market sentiment predicting no change to the bank's benchmark lending rate target of 0.10%.

In Europe later Tuesday, German consumer climate and business climate data will shed some light on the outlook for Europe's largest economy.





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