Markets | Asia shares rise as China steadies, Wall Street snaps back

Trader Fady Tanois, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

Asian shares rose yesterday as Shanghai’s market stabilized for a second day and Chinese export figures improved (see p10). Investors also were cheered by gains on Wall Street that snapped a losing streak, including an eight-day slump for the Nasdaq composite.
KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index jumped 2.7 percent to 17,682.33 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 2.5 percent to 20,204.74. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.4 percent to 1,916.57. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.9 percent to 3,048.64 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.0 percent to 4,975.60. Shares in Southeast Asia and New Zealand also were higher.
CHINA TURMOIL: After a tumultuous start to the year for Chinese stocks and the yuan, both those markets showed tentative stability, likely at least partly due to government efforts to control fluctuations in the yuan. Global markets were rattled by steep falls in Chinese stocks and a bigger than usual drop in the tightly controlled yuan. Some analysts and investors interpreted those gyrations as signs officials were having difficulty managing the slowdown in the world’s No. 2 economy.
OIL PRICES: Crude oil prices tumbled overnight but bounced higher yesterday in Asia. While the factors that have driven prices nearly 18 percent lower this year are a concern, and are hurting exporters and energy company shares, lower oil and gas costs are a boon for many resource-scarce Asian economies.
CHINA DATA: China’s exports rose 2.3 percent in December from a year earlier in yuan terms, reversing a 3.7 percent drop in November, the Finance Ministry reported yesterday. Exports were down in dollar terms but the decrease was smaller than November’s. The data suggest a weakening in the yuan may be helping boost demand for Chinese products, providing welcome support for the slowing economy.
THE QUOTE: “I expect to see buyers filtering through Asia today to support the downsides, based on the positive leads from the Street. However, the upside space remains limited as there are few good news or data to cheer about,” Bernard Aw of IG said in a commentary.
WALL STREET: Shares were lower for most of the day but then regained lost ground in the last hour of trading. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 117.65 points, or 0.7 percent, to 16,516.22. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 15.01 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,938.68. The Nasdaq composite climbed 47.93 points, or 1 percent, to 4,685.92.
ENERGY: U.S. crude oil rose 22 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $30.65 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, it lost 97 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $30.44 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, rose 18 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $31.13. It fell 69 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $30.86 a barrel in London.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 118.23 yen from 117.89 yen in the previous trading session. The euro fell to $1.0813 from $1.0834. Elaine Kurtenbach, Tokyo, AP