Asian stocks lifted by US recovery hopes

Asian stocks extended their gains as exporters carried through the positive momentum following a strong start to the US holiday shopping season.

Strong gains on most of the region’s indices helped push the FTSE Asia Pacific index up a further 1.9 per cent to 219.09. The index climbed 2 per cent in the previous session.

Japanese and South Korean electronics exporters led the charge as investors remained cheered by record sales in the US on Black Friday – the day that follows Thanksgiving and traditionally the start of the Christmas shopping period.

Nintendo , the Japanese maker of video game consoles, rose 2.9 per cent to Y11,800, while rival Sony added 2.1 per cent to Y1,392. Meanwhile, Seoul’s LG Display , the flat screen maker, climbed 6.1 per cent to Won25,950 and Samsung Electronics , the chip and smartphone maker, added 2.8 per cent to Won1,005,000.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 Average climbed 2.3 per cent to 8,477.82.

Fujifilm Holdings climbed 5.4 per cent to Y1,841 as it looked to take market share from scandal-hit rival Olympus . A large hospital said on Monday it was thinking of switching suppliers of diagnostic imaging equipment. Olympus gained 1.3 per cent to Y1,003.

KDDI Corp , the telecoms group, fell 1.5 per cent to Y513,000 in heavy trade after the company said it would sell up to Y200bn of convertible bonds to buy back its own shares from troubled Tokyo Electric Power Co . Tepco shares ended flat at Y280.

South Korea’s Kospi Composite index jumped 2.3 per cent to 1,856.52.

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard gained 5.7 per cent to Won111,500 after local brokerage Daishin Securities recommended the stock, citing dividends and potential orders. Hyundai Heavy Industries , the world’s largest shipbuilder, advanced 4.2 per cent to Won274,000 after receiving $22.9bn worth of orders in the first 10 months of this year, up 48 per cent from a year earlier.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 1.2 per cent to 18,256.2 and China’s Shanghai Composite index added 1.2 per cent to 2,412.4, both boosted by resource stocks.

Jiangxi Copper rose 1.9 per cent to Rmb25.92 in Shanghai and Angang Steel gained 4 per cent to HK$4.90 in Hong Kong.

Indian shares fell on fears reforms to allow multinational retailers to trade in the country would stifle the growth of domestic companies. The BSE Sensex index fell 1 per cent to 16,008.34.