Asia Markets: Asia stocks mostly up amid debt pact hope

By Sarah Turner and V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) ? Most Asian stocks climbed Tuesday on signs of progress in U.S. budget talks to avert the fiscal cliff, with exporters and financial firms driving Japanese shares to their highest level in more than eight months.

?Investors underweight equities are becoming more anxious about being left behind if there is a reasonable outcome to the U.S. fiscal cliff negotiations,? said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

The Nikkei Stock Average /quotes/zigman/5986735 JP:100000018 +0.96% ?rose 1% to 9,923.01, a closing level not seen since early April. The advance builds on gains from the previous session, when a landslide election victory for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) sparked fresh optimism for the introduction of deflation-fighting policies.

South Korea?s Kospi /quotes/zigman/1652118 KR:SEU +0.51% ?and Australia?s S&P/ASX 200 /quotes/zigman/1653884 AU:XJO +0.48% ?added 0.5% each, Taiwan?s Taiex /quotes/zigman/1565586 XX:Y9999 +0.16% rose 0.2% and China?s Shanghai Composite Index /quotes/zigman/1859015 CN:000001 +0.10% inched up 0.1%.

/quotes/zigman/1859015 000001 2,162.46, +2.12, +0.10%
/quotes/zigman/5986735 100000018 9,923.01, +94.13, +0.96%

Shanghai Composite and Nikkei Average

Year-to-date price chart

Hong Kong?s Hang Seng Index /quotes/zigman/2622475 HK:HSI -0.08% slipped 0.1%, paring some of this month?s gains.

While overnight gains on Wall Street set the tone for early gains for most regional markets, a further advance for U.S. equity futures and higher commodity prices aided sentiment.

Also supporting stock gains, President Barack Obama reportedly made a new offer late Monday on a deal to avoid the cliff, moving closer to the Republicans? position. The White House?s latest counterproposal included $1.2 trillion in revenue increases and $1.22 trillion in spending reductions, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed source familiar with the negotiations. Read: Obama reportedly makes new 'fiscal cliff' offer.

Financial firms led the gains in U.S. markets on Monday as fiscal cliff hopes gave investors some confidence about the health of the U.S. economy and optimism on the sector spread to Tokyo on Tuesday.

Nomura Holdings Inc. /quotes/zigman/196701 JP:8604 +6.37% ? /quotes/zigman/296367/quotes/nls/nmr NMR +3.20% ?climbed 6.4% after a 3.2% rally for its American Depositary Shares overnight, and top Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. /quotes/zigman/267078 JP:8306 +3.80% /quotes/zigman/392753/quotes/nls/mtu MTU +1.95% ?rising 3.8%.

In light of current global asset-price reflation and falling volatility, ?Japan is our favored contrarian long,? said Merrill Lynch?s global equity strategy team, which recommended buying Japanese banks.

With the dollar trading around ?84 Tuesday, many blue-chip exporters added to their Monday?s gains. See: Dollar jumps to 19-month high vs. yen.

News of Abe leadership sends yen tumbling

A day after Japan's general election, Shinzo Abe's plan to launch a stimulus to get Japan's economy on track sends the yen lower.

Olympus Corp. /quotes/zigman/196968 JP:7733 +6.15% /quotes/zigman/196973/quotes/nls/ocpnf OCPNF +0.61% ?rose 6.2% and industrial major Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. /quotes/zigman/194287 JP:7012 +1.93% ? /quotes/zigman/194294/quotes/nls/kwhif KWHIF -1.07% gained 1.5%.

Sharp Corp. /quotes/zigman/197304 JP:6753 +8.64% /quotes/zigman/197313/quotes/nls/shcaf SHCAF +8.27% ?extended its rally Monday to add another 8.4%.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. /quotes/zigman/198657 JP:9501 +17.33% /quotes/zigman/198664/quotes/nls/tkecf TKECF +39.56% zoomed 17.3% higher, also building on strong gains in the previous session, when the stock ended limit-up amid hopes for a more favorable policy towards the sector under the incoming LDP-led government?s regime.

In Hong Kong, insurance major AIA Group Ltd. /quotes/zigman/3131051/quotes/nls/aaigf AAIGF -4.13% /quotes/zigman/613725 HK:1299 -3.32% ?lost 3.3% after former parent American Insurance Group Inc. /quotes/zigman/557836/quotes/nls/aig AIG +2.98% ?wrapped up its stake sale in AIA. Read: AIG sells AIA shares near top end of range.

Banks also gained broadly, with China Merchants Bank Co. /quotes/zigman/1868141 CN:600036 +1.20% ? /quotes/zigman/604211/quotes/nls/cihky CIHKY -0.65% climbing 1% and China Construction Bank Corp. /quotes/zigman/1876229 CN:601939 +0.44% /quotes/zigman/529424/quotes/nls/cichy CICHY +0.19% ?trading 0.3%.

Elsewhere in the region, Korea Exchange Bank /quotes/zigman/1639124 KR:004940 +2.04% /quotes/zigman/1639124 KR:004940 +2.04% rose 2% in Seoul, National Australia Bank Ltd. /quotes/zigman/181126 AU:NAB +0.78% /quotes/zigman/181112/quotes/nls/nabzy NABZY -0.27% added 0.5% in Sydney and Chinatrust Financial Holding Co. advanced 0.6% in Taipei.

/quotes/zigman/5986735

JP : Nikkei Idx

Volume: 0.00

Dec. 18, 2012 3:00p

/quotes/zigman/1652118

KR : South Korea

Volume: 454.27M

Dec. 18, 2012 6:03p

/quotes/zigman/1653884

AU : Australia: Sydney

Volume: 0.00

Dec. 18, 2012 4:10p

/quotes/zigman/1565586

XX : Taiwan

Volume: 3.31B

Dec. 18, 2012 1:33p

/quotes/zigman/1859015

CN : China: Shanghai

Volume: 126.10M

Dec. 18, 2012 3:15p

/quotes/zigman/2622475

HK : HangSeng Ind

Volume: 0.00

Dec. 18, 2012 4:01p

/quotes/zigman/196701

JP : Japan: Tokyo

Volume: 85.29M

Dec. 18, 2012 3:00p

Market Cap

?1399.06 billion

Rev. per Employee

?55.81M

/quotes/zigman/296367/quotes/nls/nmr

US : U.S.: NYSE

Volume: 210,280

Dec. 17, 2012 4:01p

Rev. per Employee

$707,785

/quotes/zigman/267078

JP : Japan: Tokyo

Volume: 122.36M

Dec. 18, 2012 3:00p

Market Cap

?5557.94 billion

Rev. per Employee

?52.97M

/quotes/zigman/392753/quotes/nls/mtu

US : U.S.: NYSE

Volume: 2.70M

Dec. 17, 2012 4:03p

Rev. per Employee

$669,011

/quotes/zigman/196968

JP : Japan: Tokyo

? 1,485.00

+86.00 +6.15%

Volume: 3.20M

Dec. 18, 2012 3:00p

Market Cap

?390.46 billion

Rev. per Employee

?24.62M

/quotes/zigman/196973/quotes/nls/ocpnf

US : U.S.: OTCBB

Volume: 330.00

Dec. 11, 2012 11:06a

/quotes/zigman/194287

JP : Japan: Tokyo

Volume: 15.09M

Dec. 18, 2012 3:00p

Market Cap

?341.07 billion

Rev. per Employee

?38.89M

/quotes/zigman/194294/quotes/nls/kwhif

US : U.S.: OTCBB

Volume: 120.00

Dec. 7, 2012 1:01p

/quotes/zigman/197304

JP : Japan: Tokyo

Volume: 360.07M

Dec. 18, 2012 3:00p

Market Cap

?298.78 billion

Rev. per Employee

?39.56M

/quotes/zigman/197313/quotes/nls/shcaf

US : U.S.: OTCBB

Volume: 2,000

Dec. 13, 2012 3:52p

Rev. per Employee

$502,476

/quotes/zigman/198657

JP : Japan: Tokyo

Volume: 264.13M

Dec. 18, 2012 3:00p

Market Cap

?539.15 billion

Rev. per Employee

?109.95M

/quotes/zigman/198664/quotes/nls/tkecf

US : U.S.: OTCBB

Volume: 125,820

Dec. 17, 2012 3:25p

Market Cap

$539.15 billion

Rev. per Employee

$109.95M

/quotes/zigman/3131051/quotes/nls/aaigf

US : U.S.: OTCBB

Volume: 3,821

Dec. 17, 2012 1:39p

/quotes/zigman/613725

HK : Hong Kong

Volume: 1.86B

Dec. 18, 2012 4:01p

Market Cap

HK$381.19 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$5.31M

/quotes/zigman/557836/quotes/nls/aig

US : U.S.: NYSE

Volume: 33.55M

Dec. 17, 2012 4:00p

/quotes/zigman/1868141

CN : China: Shanghai

Volume: 123.38M

Dec. 18, 2012 3:04p

Market Cap

?259.16 billion

/quotes/zigman/604211/quotes/nls/cihky

US : U.S.: OTCBB

Volume: 6,161

Dec. 17, 2012 3:48p

/quotes/zigman/1876229

CN : China: Shanghai

Volume: 67.00M

Dec. 18, 2012 3:04p

Market Cap

?1259.10 billion

/quotes/zigman/529424/quotes/nls/cichy

US : U.S.: OTCBB

Volume: 80,359

Dec. 17, 2012 3:57p

Market Cap

$194.14 billion

/quotes/zigman/1639124

KR : South Korea

? 7,520.00

+150.00 +2.04%

Volume: 910,262

Dec. 18, 2012 3:00p

Market Cap

?4733.62 billion

Rev. per Employee

?667.04M

/quotes/zigman/1639124

KR : South Korea

? 7,520.00

+150.00 +2.04%

Volume: 910,262

Dec. 18, 2012 3:00p

Market Cap

?4733.62 billion

Rev. per Employee

?667.04M

/quotes/zigman/181126

AU : Australia: Sydney

Volume: 6.90M

Dec. 18, 2012 4:36p

Rev. per Employee

$895,030

/quotes/zigman/181112/quotes/nls/nabzy

US : U.S.: OTCBB

Volume: 17,552

Dec. 17, 2012 3:49p

Rev. per Employee

$928,915

Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney. Follow her on Twitter @SarahTurnerMKTW. Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau. Follow him on Twitter @MktwKumar.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B65017FF0-48A7-11E2-ACE1-002128040CF6%7D&siteid=rss

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