Impressive bounce in Asian stocks

Markets shrug off fears of radiation, witness bargain buying

Asian stocks rose today following an impressive rally of more than 5% in the Japanese equities stocks rebounding after a severe drop yesterday. The Euro turned up and commodities also rose though the news on the Japanese front remained grim. Another fire erupted at the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant north of Tokyo and Workers had to be evacuated as radiation levels started soaring. The US markets plummeted yesterday following an ac across the board sell off in global equities, commodities and risky assets. The Dow dropped 137.74 points or 1.2% to close at 11,855.42 points.



In Japan, the gut-wrenching drop of more than 10% yesterday was followed by bargain hunting as sound technical cues supported the battered stocks. Despite worries over elevated radiation levels and power cuts, the people of Japan seem to be intent on not to give up after what has been talked about the largest tragedy in the country since the World War II. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 488.57 points, or 5.68% to close at 9,093.72 today with the automakers and financial stocks gaining at an impressive pace. The Japanese yen gained today, edging under 81 against the US dollar as speculators were betting that the Japanese government and companies would liquidate overseas assets to pay for reconstruction.

In Australia, the stocks ended in green, reversing last two days of losses, as a stable undertone in risky assets and mild gains in copper and crude supported the sentiments.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index rose 29.50 points, or 0.65%, to close at 4,558.20 points. On the economic front, a report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that the number of new dwelling unit commencements in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 5.3% in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to the previous three months, standing at 37,897. That follows an upwardly revised 13% quarterly drop in Q3.

In China, markets edged higher as bargain buying pushed up the local metal stocks and home appliances producers. Despite the worries over the domestic liquidity conditions, the index linked counters pushed up the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up by 34.10 points, or 1.20% to close at 2,931.10.

In Mumbai, the expectations of decent to strong Q4 March 2011 earnings triggered a recovery on the domestic bourses after yesterday's 1.47% slide, following reports companies across sectors have paid significantly higher tax in Q4 March 2011 compared with the year-ago period. But, the market came off the day's high as European markets reversed initial gains. The BSE 30-share Sensex was up 191.05 points or 1.05% to 18,358.69. The Sensex rose 276.83 points to 18,444.47 in mid-afternoon trade. The Sensex rose 96.04 points at the day's low of 18,263.68 in early trade.

In other markets, Straits Times index in Singapore added 0.85%, Seoul Composite index in South Korea garnered a gain of 1.77% while Taiwan Weighted index in Taiwan rose 1.09%. In commodities, crude oil rallied today, reversing the more than 4 dollars losses yesterday and currently quotes at $98.96, up $1.78 per barrel on the day. Gold also gained by around 10 dollars to top highs of $1403.40 per ounce.