Most Asian markets rise after Wall Street rebound
SEOUL, South Korea _ Asian stock markets rose Wednesday after a rebound on Wall Street, but pervasive concerns about the dismal outlook for the world economy limited gains.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 1.1 percent, or 83.43 points, to 7,948.98 and benchmark indexes in Hong Kong, China, Australia and Singapore also crept higher as investors nibbled on shares after broad declines the day before. South Korea bucked the trend with the key index down 0.5 percent at 1017.82.
"Investors remained cautious due to sustained worries over a prolonged global downturn," said Masatoshi Sato, market analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. Ltd.
In a volatile session Tuesday in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 270 points, or 3.3 percent, to 8,419.09, making back some of Monday's 7.7 percent plunge. That decline had sent Asian stocks sharply lower Tuesday.
The U.S. market withstood mixed messages from troubled U.S. automakers -- Ford Motor Co. said it had enough cash to make it through 2009 while General Motors Corp. said it needs $12 billion in government loans.
The viability of those two companies along with Chrysler, the third major U.S. auto manufacturer, has weighed on Wall Street in recent weeks amid a debate over whether they should receive government assistance.
Asian automakers were mostly lower Wednesday. In Tokyo, Toyota Motor Corp. fell 2 percent and Honda Motor Corp. slid 6.4 percent. South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. shed 4.1 percent and Kia Motors Corp. dropped 1.1 percent.
Shares in Australia moved higher after news that the country's flagship airline Qantas was in merger talks with British Airways.
Stocks pared gains, however, after the Australian government announced the economy slowed to growth of just 0.1 percent in the third quarter, the slowest pace in eight years. Qantas was up 4.4 percent after initially jumping 9 percent.
CMC Markets Stockbroking general manager Andrew West said a tie-up between the carriers would be a positive move for Qantas, particularly in the currently tough airline market.
"If the deal goes through it will create a formidable airline that has a major share of major routes to the U.S., UK and Asia," he said.
Shares in Thailand outperformed the rest of the region, rising 2.5 percent after a court ruling Tuesday dissolved the ruling party for electoral fraud, lancing weeks of heightened political tensions that culminated in protesters occupying Bangkok's two airports.
In currency trading, the Japanese yen stood at 93.24 to the dollar in afternoon trading, compared with 93.13 yen in New York late Tuesday.
Oil prices rose slightly Wednesday in Asia after hitting a three-year low overnight as investors try to gauge how much the slowing U.S. and Chinese economies will hurt demand for crude.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery was up 74 cents to $47.70 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore.
The outlook for China's slowing economy was also weighing on markets in Asia, said Mark Tan of UOB Asset Management in Singapore.
"It's just going to be more bad news," he said, referring to the release of upcoming economic data such as industrial production and retail sales