By Sarah Turner and V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Most Asian stocks rose Thursday after
U.S. President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner
expressed optimism about a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff,"
sparking a solid rebound on Wall Street.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1%, South Korea's Kospi gained
1.2% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 0.7%.
Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.9%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index
snapped a three-day losing streak to finish 1% higher.
But mainland Chinese shares declined for a fourth straight
session, however, dropping further toward their lowest level in
nearly four years, with brokerages and commodity companies pacing
the losses. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.5%.
The broad gains came after Obama said he hoped to have a deal by
Christmas to avoid the more than $600 billion of tax hikes and
spending cuts kick in from January, which investors worry will drag
the U.S. economy into a recession. Rep. Boehner also told reporters
he was optimistic Republicans could forge an agreement with the
White House.
Some strategists said investors should be wary about paying too
much attention to this week's headlines about the "cliff."
Alan James at Barclays Capital said that "with substantive
discussions between Congressional leaders and the president not
expected to kick off until next week, we would not read much into
the volatile headlines."
Peter Lai, director at DBS Vickers, said "people are waiting for
concrete measures to build confidence."
Lai added that while stocks in Shanghai have fallen to levels
that he believes are oversold, he was "not pessimistic."
Over the past year, the Shanghai Composite has plunged 17.6%,
which including a 3.2% decline so far this week.
Major movers
Japanese exporters got a boost as the dollar reclaimed the
¥82 level. Hitachi Ltd. (HIT) rose 2.9%, and Advantest Corp.
(ATE) added 3.4%.
Sharp Corp. (SHCAF) jumped 3.1% on a Dow Jones Newswires report
it was in talks with U.S. companies about a capital injection. The
firm is talking to Dell Inc. (DELL), Intel Corp. (INTC) and
Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), people familiar with the discussions
reportedly said.
Auto makers also advanced despite news that industry retail
sales for October fell in Japan from the year-earlier month,
breaking a string of modest increases since December.
Among the three top auto makers, all of which posted
year-on-year declines, shares of Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) rose 1.2%,
Honda Motor Co. (HMC) advanced 2% and Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY)
climbed 2.5%.
Resource sector shares, which were hit hard Wednesday, when U.S.
austerity concerns boosted the dollar and pressured metal prices,
broadly rebounded during the session.
In Tokyo, steel maker JFE Holdings Ltd. (5411.TO) climbed 3.5%
and Kobe Steel Ltd. (KBSTY) soared 6.9%; in Sydney, uranium
extractor Paladin Energy Ltd. (PDN.T) rallied 5.4% and Murchison
Metals Ltd. climbed 2.5%; and Angang Steel Co. (ANGGY) rose 1.4%
and Jiangxi Copper Co. (JIXAY) advanced 0.6% in Hong Kong.
Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. (RIO) added 0.9% in
Sydney after outlining cuts to capital expenditure, and offering
guarded optimism over Chinese ore demand.
Shares of brokerages suffered heavy losses on mainland Chinese
bourses, helping erase gains recorded earlier in the day. Reuters
cited a Chinese media report as saying that there has been
discussion by key industry players to cut broker commission
fees.
Shares of Sinolink Securities Co. plunged by the day's 10%
limit, Haitong Securities Co. lost 5.9% and Citic Securities Co.
fell 4.4% in Shanghai; in Shenzhen, Changjiang Securities Co. lost
8.6% and Hong Yuan Securities Co. tumbled 9.1%.
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