Nikkei: 10,543.52 (+112.16) Hang Seng: 23,908.96 (+426.01) Shanghai Comp: 2,799.40 (+8.70):ASIAN STOCKS rose, driving the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to a two-week high, as Japanese company earnings improved and Nippon Steel announced a takeover.
Nippon Steel soared 9.1 per cent to ¥313, the biggest contributor to the Topix, and Sumitomo Metal Industries jumped 16 per cent to ¥224.
JFE Holdings, Japan’s second-largest steelmaker, Kobe Steel and Nisshin Steel all rose more than 2 per cent.
Softbank, the exclusive provider of Apple’s iPhone in Japan, gained 3.6 per cent after raising its profit forecast.
QBE, Australia’s largest insurer by market value, gained 7.4 per cent to A$18.20 in Sydney, its biggest increase since January 2008 and the biggest support to the country’s benchmark index.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the country’s top lender by market value, climbed 0.9 per cent in Sydney after the central bank increased its economic growth forecast.
Stock markets in China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore shut mid-week for the Lunar New Year holiday, and exchanges in Taiwan and Vietnam have been closed all week. – (Bloomberg)
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