By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japanese and Australian stocks rose
Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said no time
has been set for slowing the pace of the central bank's bond
purchases, with banks among the gainers in Asia.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average added 0.6%, and Australia's
S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.1%, but South Korea's Kospi retreated
0.8% after a solid advance in the previous session.
U.S. stocks ticked higher Wednesday after the Fed chairman said
the central bank's monthly bond purchases weren't on a "pre-set
course" and could be curbed or extended, depending on economic
conditions.
"Fed Chairman Bernanke didn't delivery anything new in his
testimony yesterday but still managed to provide further
reassurance to markets. ... The positive tone will likely creep
into Asian trading today in the absence of other key market
drivers," said Crédit Agricole head of Asia global markets research
Mitul Kotecha.
In addition to Bernanke's testimony to Congress,
better-than-expected results from Bank of America Corp. (BAC) also
helped banking shares advance on Wall Street.
In Asia, several major financial stocks saw solid gains, with
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (SMFJY) rising 2% and
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (MTU) adding 1.2% in Tokyo,
while National Australia Bank Ltd. (NABZY) added 0.5% in
Sydney.
Shares of Softbank Corp. (9984.TO) jumped 5.7% on news the
Japanese telecommunications firm will form a 50-50 joint venture
with Bloom Energy to deploy the U.S.-based firm's energy
servers.
Toshiba Corp. (TOSYY) jumped 3.1% after the Nikkei newspaper
reported the company planned to invest in capacity expansion for
smartphone chips for the first time in about two years.
In Australia, surfwear maker Billibong International Ltd.
(BLLAY) climbed a further 6% on top of Wednesday's 34% surge,
following news it has secured a private-equity loan and that it was
replacing the company's chief executive.
A rise in U.S. crude-oil prices Wednesday helped lift energy
producers, with Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. gaining 1.9% in
Tokyo, and Santos Ltd. rising 1% in Sydney.
But Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WOPEF) fell 0.9% after
saying it would take impairment charges of up to $140 million on
unused design work for projects that never took off.
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