Well, maybe the world economy is not headed for the tank after all. The Wall Street Journal reports that regional indexes surged in the wake of overnight gains on Wall Street.
Asian markets ended mostly higher Tuesday, as Hong Kong and Tokyo stocks rose sharply in the wake of Wall Street's overnight gains and better-than-expected U.S. housing figures.
Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index surged 6.4% to 22464.52 on the first trading day after the four-day Easter break. On Monday in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average jumped nearly 190 points as investors applauded an improved bid from J.P. Morgan Chase for Bear Stearns. J. P. Morgan raised its bid for Bear, agreeing to pay $10 a share from the initially reported $2 a share. (See related article.)
In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index rose 2.12% to 12791.24, its highest finish since March 12 as credit-market fears eased and the dollar recovered against the yen. The weakened yen boosted exporters and electronics shares, with Canon adding 3.9% while TDK gained 5%. Trading houses also rallied on the stronger dollar. Itochu rose 4.8% and Mitsubishi gained 4.3%.
Paper firms dropped on worries that imported pulp and other raw-materials costs would rise. Nippon Paper Group lost 5.2%.
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