Investing.com - Asian stocks moved higher in Tuesday trade, lifted by the overnight rise on Wall Street and renewed hopes for action to ward off the spread of debt contagion in the euro-zone.
During early Asian trade, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.02% to 17,711.10, Japan’s Nikkei Index added 2.1% to 8,786.22, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.8% to 4,234.50.
The Topix Index of all shares listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, gained 1.9% to trade at 756.28.
Over the weekend, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said they had agreed to strengthen European banks and that specifics of a package of measures would be revealed by the end of the month.
“We are determined to do all that is necessary to guarantee bank recapitalization,” Merkel said at a joint news conference in Berlin following the meeting.
Meanwhile, the troika of international lenders, the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank were set to conclude review meetings with Greek officials in Athens.
A favorable report could clear the way for the release of a USD10.8 billion rescue package for Greece it needs by the middle of next month in order to to avoid debt default.
Wall Street shares reacted positively to the news from Europe, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 2.97% to 11,433.18, the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 3.5% to 2,566.05, and the S&P 500 was up sharply by 3.41% to end the day at 1.194.89.
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Earlier Tuesday, the Japanese Finance Ministry reported that Japan’s current account surplus fell by 64.3% year on year, to USD5.3 billion in the month of August.
Export and technology shares lead gainers in the region, mirroring their Wall Street counterparts. Toshiba Corp. advanced 1.9%, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. added 0.8%, Sony Corp. jumped 5.3% and Toyota Motor Corp. rose 2.43% after announcing September sales in China rose by 10.5% from the same period a year ago.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 1.3% after the financial firm announced a cost-cutting plan for its retail banking sector, citing sluggish growth.
Media issues in Sydney were broadly higher, with Faifax Media Ltd. up 3.5%, Seven West Media Ltd. higher by 3.2% and New Corp. gaining 0.6%.
The outlook for European stocks was mixed. France’s CAC 40 futures was higher by 0.11% to 3,170.90, Britain’s FTSE 100 futures edged down 0.19% to 5,378.40, while Germany’s DAX futures slipped 0.05% to 5,878.40.