SALON

Monday, Dec 17, 2012 3:15 AM UTC

Japan, China stocks higher on stimulus hopes

By

Topics: From the Wires,

HONG KONG (AP) — Stock markets in Japan and China, Asia’s two biggest economies, rose Monday after Japanese conservatives who favor greater economic stimulus returned to power in a landslide election victory and China’s new leaders promised more spending if needed to underpin a wobbly economic recovery.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.6 percent to 9,891.15, its highest level since April, after the country’s Liberal Democratic Party swept back into power at weekend elections. Party chief Shinzo Abe, almost certain to become prime minister, favors increased spending on public works and setting a 3 percent economic growth target.

“The outcome of the Japan election should help support sentiment in the region,” strategists at Credit Agricole CIB said in a research note.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.8 percent to 2,168.00 and the smaller Shenzhen Composite index climbed 0.6 percent to 821.17. On Sunday, China’s new Communist Party leaders under party General Secretary Xi Jinping pledged a “proactive fiscal policy” and “prudent monetary policy” in a statement carried by the official Xinhua News Agency. They were references to the willingness to boost spending if needed and keep credit easy so long as inflation stays low.

The optimism failed to rub off on other Asian markets, which retreated slightly.

South Korea’s Kospi was less than 0.1 percent lower at 1,994.04 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.1 percent at 22,584.98. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.2 percent to 4,574.90. Benchmarks in Taiwan and New Zealand also fell.

On Wall Street on Friday, the Dow fell 35.71 0.3 percent to close at 13,135.01 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.4 percent to 1,413.58. The Nasdaq composite sank 0.7 percent to 2,971.33.

In currencies, the euro weakened slightly to $1.3155 from $1.3159 in late trading Friday. The dollar fell to 83.99 Japanese from 83.46 yen.

Crude prices rose. Benchmark oil for January delivery was up 18 cents to $86.91 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract settled at $86.73 on Friday.

More By Kelvin Chan.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations