Asia Markets

Dikutip dari ADVFN Newsdesk untuk Saham Indonesia

The major markets in the Asia-Pacific region ended higher on Tuesday on growing optimism regarding a global recovery after Goldman Sachs, the sixth largest bank in the U.S, reported better than expected financial results for the first quarter. The company also announced plans to raise $5 billion to repay all of the TARP funding it received from the U.S. government. Buoyed by the announcement from Goldman Sachs, the markets ignored the mixed closing on Wall Street and posted gains, primarily on the support lent by financial stocks. However, the Nikkei bucked the trend and ended in negative territory, dragged down by property stocks.


The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index ended at 8,843, down 81.75 points, or 0.9%, and the broader Topix index of all First Section Issues slipped 5.55 points, or 0.7%, to 843.

Property related stocks ended weaker after Sumitomo Realty & Development reported lower-than-expected earnings, primarily due to increased writedowns. The stock declined 5.60%. Among other property related stocks, Mitsubishi Estate lost 2.16%, Mitsui Fudosan lost 2.50% and Tokyu Land Corp fell 3.99%.

Automakers ended weaker following the news that the U.S. Treasury Department is directing General Motors to prepare for a liquidation filing by a June 1st deadline. However, financial stocks and resource stocks ended mixed.

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index gained 81.3 points, or 2.21% to close at 3,753 and the broader All Ordinaries index advanced 80.5 points, or 2.23% to 3,698. The market witnessed a broad based rally, with banks, miners, energy and retail stocks seeing firm buying interest.

On the economic front, the results of the latest survey of the National Australia Bank revealed that business confidence in the country improved in March, with the index rising to minus 13 from minus 22 in February. The index of business confidence increased 3 points to minus 17, but it remained at a low level not seen since 1992.

Qantas Airways staged a smart recovery in late trading and ended with a gain of 2.04%. Earlier in the day the stock declined as much as 8% after it slashed its full-year profit forecasts and flagged a further 1,750 jobs cuts and capacity reductions amid rapidly deteriorating trading conditions.

In South Korea, the benchmark KOSPI Index ended higher by 4.37 points, or 0.33% at 1,343. Among the financials, KB Financial Group gained 0.38% and Woori Finance advanced 2.50%. However, Shinhan Financial ended unchanged from the previous close.

Technology stocks ended mostly higher, while among shipbuilders, Hyundai Heavy Industries gained 0.95%, Daewoo Shipping advanced 3.27% and Samsung Heavy Industries rose 2.46%. In the auto space, Hyundai Motor edged up 0.30%, and Kia Motor remained unchanged from the previous close. However, Ssangyong Motor lost 6.03% on profit taking.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 4.55% or 678.75 points to close at 15,580. Financial stocks were the major gainers, while resource stocks also ended in positive territory. Aluminum Corporation of China, or CHALCO, rose 11.05%, CNOOC gained 7.73% and PetroChina advanced 4.43%.

Among the other major markets, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 13.48 points, or 0.54% to close at 2,527, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index advanced 1.94% or 29.86 points to 1,570, Singapore's Strait Times Index edged up 1.08% or 20.25 points to 1,897 and Taiwan's Weighted Index rose 35.04 points, or 0.60% to 5,893.