By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Most Asian markets rose Wednesday as
another record finish for key U.S. equity indexes helped Japanese
stocks extend their solid rally from the previous session, while
high-dividend yielding shares led a rebound in Australia.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average climbed 0.8% to 14,297.89, climbing
further a day after it soared 3.6% to finish at its highest level
since June 2008.
South Korea's Kospi was flat in choppy trade.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index , which ended lower on Tuesday
after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) surprised most economists
with an interest rate cut, rose 0.5%. The gains came as some banks
and telecommunication major Telstra Corp. recovered on the back of
their dividend appeal.
"By no means is the yield trade over following yesterday's
surprise rate cut by the RBA. And with scope for the RBA to cut
rates further, we will continue to see investors forced to seek
higher returns, away from bonds and bank deposits and into stocks,"
said Rivkin Securities analyst Tim Radford.
Shares of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBAUY) gained 0.4%,
and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZBY) added
0.6%, while Telstra (TLSYY) also climbed 0.6%.
In Tokyo, meanwhile, shares of Softbank Corp. (9984.TO) advanced
3.5% a day after the company unveiled new smartphone models.
Sharp Corp. [(SHCAY) soared 6.6% after the Nikkei newspaper
reported two banks had increased the line of credit they set up for
the company.
Some exporters also advanced on strong cues from Wall Street,
even as the U.S. dollar (USDJPY) slipped against the yen, with
Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY) gaining 1.3% and Sony Corp. (SNE) climbing
2.8%, putting its shares up more than 85% for the year to date.
But shares of Toshiba Corp. (TOSYY) tumbled 3.9% after the
Nikkei separately reported the company may have missed its
operating profit forecast for the fiscal year ended March 31.
Several stocks linked to the resource sector climbed despite a
drop in oil and metal prices overnight, as investors looked ahead
to monthly Chinese trade data, expected later in the day.
Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (FSUMY) rose 3.9%, and Rio Tinto
Ltd. (RIO) moved 1.2% higher in Sydney.
In Tokyo, energy producer Inpex Corp. (IPXHF) gained 1.6%, and
trading house Marubeni Corp. (MARUY) jumped 3.9%.
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