Investing.com - Asian stock markets were higher on Tuesday, as hopes for near-term monetary easing by China outweighed concerns over the euro zone’s ongoing debt crisis.
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.85%, Australia’s ASX/200 Index jumped 1.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index gained 0.7%.
Hopes for fresh monetary easing by China to support growth in the world’s second largest economy helped support market sentiment. Speculation for near-term monetary easing has been growing after Beijing pledged to speed up approvals for new infrastructure-related projects last week.
In Hong Kong, shares in property developers and financial sector stocks were mostly higher. Bank of China Hong Kong shares added 2.4%, China Construction Bank rose 1.15%, while shares of China Overseas Land & Investment climbed 3.3%.
Chinese automakers Geely Automobile Holdings and Dongfeng Motor Group jumped 4.7% and 2.5% respectively after BNP Paribas said they may benefit from government subsidies.
China’s finance ministry said it will allocate as much as CNY2 billion to support purchases of energy-efficient cars this year.
But shares in index heavyweight HSBC Holdings shed 0.25% amid ongoing concerns over political turmoil in Greece and growing fears over the health of Spain’s banking sector.
Yields on Spanish 10-year government bonds spiked to above 6.5% on Monday, the highest level since November of last year.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, the Nikkei rose on the back of strong gains in exporters with high exposure to China, the nation’s largest trade partner.
Heavy machinery maker Komatsu, which gets nearly 15% of its sales from China, added 3.2%, while industrial robot maker Fanuc rose 1.85%.
Shares in the shipping sector were broadly higher after Credit Suisse upgraded three shipping companies to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’ and hiked the target prices of two of them.
Nippon Yusen K.K., the nation’s largest shipping line by sales, jumped 4.4%, while Mitsui OSK Limited Lines and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha added 4.85% and 5.75% respectively.
On the downside, Renesas Electronics shares plunged another 16.4%, adding to the previous day’s 10.6% tumble. The struggling chip maker reported over the weekend that it planned to cut up to 14,000 jobs and raise nearly JPY100 billion in capital.
The Nikkei is down more than 16% since hitting a one-year high on March 27, after rallying more than 19% in the first three months of the year, as China’s economic growth slowed and on renewed concern about Europe’s debt crisis.
Elsewhere, shares in Australia were boosted by strong gains in miners. Rio Tinto shares climbed 2.4%, BHP Billiton added 1% and gold miner Newcrest Mining rose 1.3%.
Looking ahead, the outlook for European stock markets was upbeat, despite concerns over rising Spanish borrowing costs offset easing worries over a Greek exit from the euro zone.
The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a gain of 0.75%, France’s CAC 40 futures rose 0.65%, London’s FTSE 100 futures advanced 0.5%, while Germany's DAX futures pointed to a gain of 0.85% at the open.
Later in the day, Germany was to release preliminary data on consumer price inflation, while the U.S. was to release reports on house price inflation and consumer confidence.
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.85%, Australia’s ASX/200 Index jumped 1.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index gained 0.7%.
Hopes for fresh monetary easing by China to support growth in the world’s second largest economy helped support market sentiment. Speculation for near-term monetary easing has been growing after Beijing pledged to speed up approvals for new infrastructure-related projects last week.
In Hong Kong, shares in property developers and financial sector stocks were mostly higher. Bank of China Hong Kong shares added 2.4%, China Construction Bank rose 1.15%, while shares of China Overseas Land & Investment climbed 3.3%.
Chinese automakers Geely Automobile Holdings and Dongfeng Motor Group jumped 4.7% and 2.5% respectively after BNP Paribas said they may benefit from government subsidies.
China’s finance ministry said it will allocate as much as CNY2 billion to support purchases of energy-efficient cars this year.
But shares in index heavyweight HSBC Holdings shed 0.25% amid ongoing concerns over political turmoil in Greece and growing fears over the health of Spain’s banking sector.
Yields on Spanish 10-year government bonds spiked to above 6.5% on Monday, the highest level since November of last year.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, the Nikkei rose on the back of strong gains in exporters with high exposure to China, the nation’s largest trade partner.
Heavy machinery maker Komatsu, which gets nearly 15% of its sales from China, added 3.2%, while industrial robot maker Fanuc rose 1.85%.
Shares in the shipping sector were broadly higher after Credit Suisse upgraded three shipping companies to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’ and hiked the target prices of two of them.
Nippon Yusen K.K., the nation’s largest shipping line by sales, jumped 4.4%, while Mitsui OSK Limited Lines and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha added 4.85% and 5.75% respectively.
On the downside, Renesas Electronics shares plunged another 16.4%, adding to the previous day’s 10.6% tumble. The struggling chip maker reported over the weekend that it planned to cut up to 14,000 jobs and raise nearly JPY100 billion in capital.
The Nikkei is down more than 16% since hitting a one-year high on March 27, after rallying more than 19% in the first three months of the year, as China’s economic growth slowed and on renewed concern about Europe’s debt crisis.
Elsewhere, shares in Australia were boosted by strong gains in miners. Rio Tinto shares climbed 2.4%, BHP Billiton added 1% and gold miner Newcrest Mining rose 1.3%.
Looking ahead, the outlook for European stock markets was upbeat, despite concerns over rising Spanish borrowing costs offset easing worries over a Greek exit from the euro zone.
The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a gain of 0.75%, France’s CAC 40 futures rose 0.65%, London’s FTSE 100 futures advanced 0.5%, while Germany's DAX futures pointed to a gain of 0.85% at the open.
Later in the day, Germany was to release preliminary data on consumer price inflation, while the U.S. was to release reports on house price inflation and consumer confidence.