HONG KONG: Asian markets rallied yesterday following a record-breaking performance by shares on Wall Street, with Tokyo and Sydney both hitting multi-year highs.
The stand-out player was Japanese electronics giant Sharp, which surged more than 17 per cent in the morning on reports that it was ready for a tie-up with South Korea's Samsung worth more than US$100 million.
Tokyo added 2.13 per cent, or 248.82 points, to end at 11,932.27, while Sydney was 0.82 per cent higher, adding 41.4 points to 5,116.8 - both indexes sitting around highs not seen since September 2008.
Seoul was up 0.20 per cent, or 4.13 points, at 2,020.74 and Shanghai added 0.90 per cent, or 20.87 points, to 2,347.18.
The surge on the Dow, which has seen the index more than double since its trough in March 2009, comes despite uncertainty in the US economy and as Washington battles over how to trim its huge deficit.
"Monetary easing measures by Japan, the US and Europe are providing excess liquidity in the market. The Dow's gains are just part of it," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.
In other markets:
* Taipei rose 0.22 per cent, or 17.59 points, to 7,950.30.
* Manila rose 1.84 per cent, or 123.49 points, to a record high 6,835.21.
* Wellington rose 0.67 per cent, or 28.81 points, to 4,297.97.
* Jakarta added 1.54 per cent, or 72.98 points, to 4,824.68.
* Bangkok rose 0.65 per cent, or 10.04 points, to 1,559.35.
* Mumbai rose 0.57 per cent, or 109.44 points, to 19,252.61 points.
AFP
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