Asian stocks rallied Tuesday, following strong gains on Wall Street that snapped five straight days of losses. Investors may have also been buoyed by increased optimism over a Brexit vote in the British Parliament later in the day after Prime Minister Theresa May won last-minute concessions from the EU on the so-called Irish backstop.
Japan’s Nikkei NIK, +1.89% gained 1.9% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index HSI, +1.39% rose 1.4%. On the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +1.61% advanced 1.5% while the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, +1.94% rose 1.7%. South Korea’s Kospi SEU, +0.84% nudged up 0.9% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.43% inched up 0.3%. Indexes rose in Taiwan Y9999, +1.19% and Singapore STI, +0.95% , but Indonesia JAKIDX, -0.26% was slightly in the red.
Among individual stocks, Hitachi 6501, +4.44% surged in Tokyo trading, as did Nintendo 7974, +3.66% , Sony 6758, +2.39% and Fast Retailing 9983, +2.35% . Telecom China Mobile 0941, +1.33% and insurer AIA 1299, +1.82% gained in Hong Kong, while Samsung 005930, +1.72% rose in Korea. Energy stocks such as Santos STO, +2.87% and Beach Energy BPT, +3.00% advanced again in Australia.
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