Asia's markets mostly rose on Wednesday after a surprisingly strong batch of retail data out of the United States eased concerns about the world's number one economy.
The better-than-forecast figures provided a springboard for a rally on Wall Street and gave some support for the dollar against the yen.
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index led gainers to surge 2.50 percent -- its best performance of 2014 helping it claw back some of the losses of more than three percent suffered on Tuesday.
The Nikkei ended 386.33 points higher at 15,808.73, while the Topix index of all first-section issues finished 2.00 percent, or 25.44 points, higher at 1,294.52.
Japan Airlines rose 1.33 percent to 5,300 yen.
The carrier said it had grounded another one of its Dreamliner jets after "white smoke" was seen outside the cockpit window during maintenance, a year after the aircraft suffered a months-long global grounding over battery problems.
Rival All Nippon Airways, also a major Dreamliner customer, was up 0.89 percent at 225 yen, while shares in the plane's Japanese battery supplier GS Yuasa slipped 0.68 percent to 582 yen.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 110.72 points or 0.49 percent to 22,902.00 on turnover of HK$59.60 billion ($7.69 billion).
Among Hong Kong stocks, Chinese Internet giant Tencent gained 3.14 percent to HK$508.5 and Greatwall Motor climbed 0.29 percent to HK$34.55, while China Mobile lost 0.52 percent to HK$77.15.
Chinese shares closed 0.17 percent lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged down 3.49 points to 2,023.35 on turnover of 57.7 billion yuan ($9.5 billion).
The index resumed its downtrend on fears of a share glut as initial public offerings begin again on the mainland for the first time ion more than a year.
"Investors still think that the restart of the IPO market will pressure shares," Hongyuan Securities analyst Tang Yonggang told Dow Jones Newswires.
The Sydney index rose 0.64 percent, or 33.4 points, to 5,245.4 and Seoul added 0.37 percent, or 7.21 points, to 1,953.28.
Currency traders moved back into the dollar after it sank on Friday and Monday after the jobs report.
The dollar bought 104.30 yen in afternoon Tokyo trade compared with 104.20 in New York and much stronger than the 103.43 yen in Asia earlier Tuesday.
The euro was trading at 142.30 yen against 142.52 yen but well up from the 141.27 yen Tuesday in Tokyo.
The yen faced added downward pressure from news Japan's current account deficit had ballooned to a record 592.8 billion yen in November.
The single currency fetched $1.3640 compared with $1.3677 in New York.
On oil markets New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for February delivery, was down two cents to $92.57 a barrel in afternoon trade, while Brent North Sea crude for February dropped 12 cents to $106.27.
Gold fetched $1,239.60 at 0800 GMT compared with $1,249.20 late Tuesday.
In other markets:
-- Taipei rose 0.64 percent, or 54.41 points, to 8602.55.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. added 1.45 percent to Tw$105.0 while leading chip design house MediaTek was 0.84 percent higher at Tw$419.0.
-- Wellington jumped 0.98 percent, or 47.88 points, to 4,913.03.
-- Manila added 0.38 percent, or 22.56 points, to 5,958.12.
Asia’s markets mostly rose on Wednesday after a surprisingly strong batch of retail data out of the United States eased concerns about the world’s number one economy.
The better-than-forecast figures provided a springboard for a rally on Wall Street and gave some support for the dollar against the yen.
Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei index led gainers to surge 2.50 percent — its best performance of 2014 helping it claw back some of the losses of more than three percent suffered on Tuesday.
The Nikkei ended 386.33 points higher at 15,808.73, while the Topix index of all first-section issues finished 2.00 percent, or 25.44 points, higher at 1,294.52.
Japan Airlines rose 1.33 percent to 5,300 yen.
The carrier said it had grounded another one of its Dreamliner jets after “white smoke” was seen outside the cockpit window during maintenance, a year after the aircraft suffered a months-long global grounding over battery problems.
Rival All Nippon Airways, also a major Dreamliner customer, was up 0.89 percent at 225 yen, while shares in the plane’s Japanese battery supplier GS Yuasa slipped 0.68 percent to 582 yen.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 110.72 points or 0.49 percent to 22,902.00 on turnover of HK$59.60 billion ($7.69 billion).
Among Hong Kong stocks, Chinese Internet giant Tencent gained 3.14 percent to HK$508.5 and Greatwall Motor climbed 0.29 percent to HK$34.55, while China Mobile lost 0.52 percent to HK$77.15.
Chinese shares closed 0.17 percent lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged down 3.49 points to 2,023.35 on turnover of 57.7 billion yuan ($9.5 billion).
The index resumed its downtrend on fears of a share glut as initial public offerings begin again on the mainland for the first time ion more than a year.
“Investors still think that the restart of the IPO market will pressure shares,” Hongyuan Securities analyst Tang Yonggang told Dow Jones Newswires.
The Sydney index rose 0.64 percent, or 33.4 points, to 5,245.4 and Seoul added 0.37 percent, or 7.21 points, to 1,953.28.
Currency traders moved back into the dollar after it sank on Friday and Monday after the jobs report.
The dollar bought 104.30 yen in afternoon Tokyo trade compared with 104.20 in New York and much stronger than the 103.43 yen in Asia earlier Tuesday.
The euro was trading at 142.30 yen against 142.52 yen but well up from the 141.27 yen Tuesday in Tokyo.
The yen faced added downward pressure from news Japan’s current account deficit had ballooned to a record 592.8 billion yen in November.
The single currency fetched $1.3640 compared with $1.3677 in New York.
On oil markets New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for February delivery, was down two cents to $92.57 a barrel in afternoon trade, while Brent North Sea crude for February dropped 12 cents to $106.27.
Gold fetched $1,239.60 at 0800 GMT compared with $1,249.20 late Tuesday.
In other markets:
— Taipei rose 0.64 percent, or 54.41 points, to 8602.55.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. added 1.45 percent to Tw$105.0 while leading chip design house MediaTek was 0.84 percent higher at Tw$419.0.
— Wellington jumped 0.98 percent, or 47.88 points, to 4,913.03.
— Manila added 0.38 percent, or 22.56 points, to 5,958.12.
