STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 2 February 2012

[Ghost Dog]

23. Asian Shares Rally As U.S. Data Boosts Risk Appetite

CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian shares rallied on Thursday as upbeat manufacturing data from China, Germany and the U.S. bolstered the outlook for global economic growth. Adding to optimism over Greece, reports said the Greek bond holders would be offered GDP-linked warrants that would boost yields to sweeten debt restructuring if Greece's gross domestic product exceeds targets. Metal prices pared overnight gains and crude futures were little changed as the euro steadied against the dollar.

Tokyo shares advanced led by automotive and bank shares. The Nikkei average finished the day 0.8 percent higher while the broader Topix index rose 0.6 percent... Meanwhile, the Tokyo Stock Exchange said it is investigating the cause of the glitch that led to the suspension of trading of 241 companies in the morning. Trading volumes totaled 2.25 billion shares on the exchange, the third-highest figure for the year, as market participants rushed to execute their shares in the afternoon session after trading resumed.

Australian shares snapped a three-day losing streak following positive leads from both Wall Street and Europe overnight. Miners led the rebound as encouraging manufacturing data from across the globe soothed worries that Europe's debt crisis could derail the economic recovery. Both the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 and the broader All Ordinaries index closed up around a percent each... Miners also benefited from reports that Swiss commodity trader Glencore International is nearing an agreement to combine with Xstrata. The speculation was confirmed subsequently by the companies. Lynas Corp soared 19.1 percent after Malaysia's Atomic Energy Licensing Board granted the rare earths miner a temporary license to operate a refinery in the country...

... South Korea's Kospi average rose 1.3 percent, gaining for a third day, after an uptick in world's factory output buoyed optimism that the world economy could withstand the fallout from Europe's debt crisis... New Zealand shares joined a global rally on signs of an improving U.S. economy. The benchmark NZX -50 index closed 0.4 percent higher...

... Elsewhere, China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose around 2 percent each, India's Sensex was up 0.9 percent, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite gained 1.3 percent and the Taiwan Weighted average added 1.4 percent, but Singapore's Straits Times edged down marginally. The major U.S. averages rose between 0.7 percent and 1.2 percent overnight after a string of economic data showed U.S. manufacturing grew at the fastest pace since June in January, construction spending reached a four-month high in December and employment in the private sector improved at a moderate pace last month.

/... http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2012-02/22604472-asian-shares-rally-as-u-s-data-boosts-risk-appetite-020.htm