Asia report: Hang Seng has best day since 2008 as stocks rebound

Stock markets finished in positive territory in Asia on Wednesday, with Hong Kong’s benchmark index having its best day in over 13 years as it rebounded from heavy losses in the previous session.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 1.64% at 25,762.01, as the yen strengthened 0.02% on the dollar to last trade at JPY 118.28.

It was a positive session for the benchmark’s major components, with automation specialist Fanuc up 1.39%, fashion firm Fast Retailing adding 1.32%, and technology conglomerate SoftBank Group surging 5.96%.

The broader Topix index was ahead 1.46% by the end of trading in Tokyo, closing at 1,853.25.

Data released earlier showed exports from Japan growing significantly in February, although not as much as expected.

Exports were up 19.1% year-on-year for the month, rising from 9.6% in January, but coming in short of the 20.6% improvement pencilled in by the markets.

Craig Botham at Pantheon Macroeconomics said adjusting for the Lunar New Year seasonality, the numbers were less impressive.

“We estimate that seasonally-adjusted export growth slowed to 14.5% in February, from 15.2% in January, and shrank 1.6% month-on-month after growth of 2.4% in January,” he noted.

“We wouldn’t panic just yet - this time of year introduces a range of distortions that a simple statistical filter cannot fully remove - but exports are stalling slightly, at present.”

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite jumped 3.48% to 3,170.71, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite was 3.62% firmer at 2,086.24.

Sentiment was given a boost in China after reports that regulators in Beijing and Washington were working towards a plan to cooperate on US listings of Chinese companies.

State media in the People’s Republic cited a financial stability summit hosted by vice-premier Liu He, reporting that Beijing supported overseas listings for Chinese companies.

The reports also said the politburo was keen to support stability in Hong Kong’s financial market, and would provide the necessary support for the ailing property development sector.

Economic data out of Beijing, meanwhile, showed house prices falling faster in February, with the official measure down 0.13% month-on-month, compared to the 0.04% decline in January.

“This marks the sixth consecutive month of falling house prices for both new and second hand homes, with prices dropping 0.26% month-on-month in February for the latter, the same drop as in January,” said Pantheon’s Craig Botham.

“A similar pattern persists even after seasonal adjustment.

“Though no surprise after the 22% fall in residential sales reported yesterday, this strengthens our suspicions about the strong retail sales numbers reported for the start of the year.”

South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.44% to 2,659.23, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rocketed 9.08% to 20,087.50.

The gains of 1,672.42 points for the main board in the special administrative region made for the best day percentage-wise since 30 October 2008, when it rose 12.82%, although it was still down 2% for the week thus far following two sessions of sell-offs.

Technology shares, which were behind most of the losses on Monday and Tuesday, saw solid gains, with Alibaba Group up 27.3%, NetEase adding 23.4%, and Tencent Holdings rising 23.15%.

Seoul’s blue-chip technology stocks were on the front foot as well, with Samsung Electronics up 1.29%, and SK Hynix jumping 3.56%.

Oil prices wavered through the Asian session before slipping back as the region went to bed, with Brent crude futures last down 0.54% on ICE at $99.37 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate losing 0.43% to $96.03.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.1% to 7,175.20, while across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 managed gains of 0.61% to 11,874.11.

Both of the down under dollars were stronger on the greenback, with the Aussie last ahead 0.69% at AUD 1.3803, and the Kiwi advancing 0.38% to NZD 1.4713.