Investing.com - Asian stocks moved higher in Wednesday trade, boosted by overnight gains on Wall Street, hopes for improving economic conditions and increased demand for exports from the region.
During early Asian trade, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 1.79% to 18,400.30, Japan’s Nikkei Index rose 0.63% to 8,797.15, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.7% to 4,216.10.
The Topix Index of all shares listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, advanced 0.47% to trade at 754.76.
All three major indexes in the U.S. posted gains on Tuesday, as Bank of America Corp. announced a return to profitability and chip maker Intel Corp. reported earnings above market expectations.
By the end of Tuesday’s session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.58% to 11,577.05, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.63% to 2,657.43 and the S&P 500 added 2.04% to close at 1,225.38.
But gains on Asian bourses were limited by the news that Moody’s Investors Service had reduced Spain’s investment grade to A1 from AA2, with a negative outlook.
“Spain continues to be vulnerable to market stress and event risk while already moderate growth prospects for the nation have been scaled back further,” Moody’s said in a statement following the announcement.
Earlier in the day, conflicting reports surfaced on the progress of negotiations to augment the European Financial Stability Facility rescue fund for debt-threatened euro-zone nations.
Reports that Germany and France had agreed to raise the EFSF to EUR2 trillion were vehemently denied by officials, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the European Union summit in five days would mark an “important step” but not the final one in addressing the region’s debt crisis.
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European shares closed mixed on Tuesday; France’s CAC declined 0.79% to 3,141.10, Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.48% to 5,410.35 while Germany’s DAX added 31% to finish the session at 5,877.41
Meanwhile, China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported Tuesday that the nation’s gross domestic product for the third quarter rose 9.1% from a year earlier, down from a second-quarter reading of 9.5% growth and slightly below the 9.2% economist’s forecast.
China’s GDP expansion for the quarter was the slowest since the second quarter of 2009.
Financial issues across Asia got a lift from the report of an expanded EFSF and gains by Bank of America, with National Australia Bank Ltd. adding 1.1%, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. up by 1.2% and HSBC Holdings PLC higher by 2.47%.
Exporters were among regional gainers, with Toyota Motor Corp. rising 0.78%, Honda Motor Co. Ltd. up by 0.5%, and Kia Motors Corp. surging 3.36%
The outlook for European stocks was pessimistic. France’s CAC 40 futures was lower by 0.65% to 3,170.80, Britain’s FTSE 100 futures fell 0.42% to 5,443.50, while Germany’s DAX futures dropping 0.59% to 5,965.20.