Asia

Asia

Steel merger plan powers Tokyo shares

04 February 2011 04:12 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Tokyo shares rallied Friday as investors cheered robust earnings and a major merger in the steel sector, APA reports quoting news.yahoo.com website.
The Nikkei 225 stock average rose 1.2 percent to 10,552.90, as much of the region took a break for the Lunar New Year holidays. Markets in Hong Kong, mainland China, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan were closed.
Nippon Steel Corp. advanced 8.7 percent, and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. surged more than 15 percent. On Thursday they announced plans to combine their businesses next year to create the world’s second-biggest steelmaker.
The move is an effort by both companies to stay competitive in the global steel industry and expand into high-growth markets such as China and India.
Companies that reported bullish earnings Thursday also advanced, including Sony Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.
Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9 percent to 4,864.60 and New Zealand’s benchmark was up 0.6 percent at 3,368.43.
In New York Thursday, stocks posted small gains after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank will stick to its efforts to spur the economy. In a speech at the National Press Club, Bernanke said that the Fed expects the economy to improve this year and inflation to remain low despite the rise in commodity prices.
The comments helped offset some ongoing worries about political unrest in Egypt.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 20.29 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,062.26.
The broader S&P 500 gained 3.07 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 1,307.10. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 4.32 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,753.88.
In currencies, the dollar slipped to 81.56 yen from 81.63 late Thursday.
The euro stood at $1.3635 from $1.3639. The single European currency plunged Thursday after the head of the European Central Bank said long-term inflation in the 17-nation euro region was still in check.