By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks extended gains
Tuesday on hopes for further monetary easing under a new central
bank chief, while Australian shares rebounded strongly from the
previous day's losses in the wake of positive cues from Wall
Street.
The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.8% in Tokyo, while Australia's
S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1.5% and South Korea's Kospi gained
0.7%.
Japanese shares had on Monday defied broad regional losses led
by Chinese stocks after Beijing imposed a fresh set of curbs on the
property sector, with the real estate and financial sectors helping
to support the market.
U.S. investors on Monday shrugged off the losses in Shanghai,
sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) to its
second-highest level on record, with investors buying up defensive
firms. Read: Stock gain lifts Dow average to second-highest
level.
The rise in Tokyo came a day after the government's nominee for
Bank of Japan Gov., Haruhiko Kuroda, made remarks favoring bolder
monetary policies to meet the central bank's recently-adopted
target of achieving a 2% inflation.
Kuroda is expected to succeed incumbent Masaaki Shirakawa, who
will be stepping down on March 19.
Finance Minister Taro Aso said at a press conference Tuesday
that he expects Kuroda to handle monetary policy in line with the
joint pact signed by the BOJ earlier this year, aimed at spurring a
sluggish economy.
Heavyweight stock Fast Retailing Co. (FRCOY) fronted the
advance, jumping 4.6% after reporting a 9.6% increase in sales at
its Uniqlo casual clothing chain in February.
Real-estate and banking shares climbed further amid an improved
economic outlook, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (MTU)
and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. (MFG) adding 1.5% each, while Japan
Real Estate Investment Corp. gained 1.1%.
The retail sector climbed in Sydney after data showing industry
sales rose 0.9% on an adjusted basis in January, beating economist
expectations for a 0.4% gain.
Myer Holdiings Ltd. gained 3.4%, while David Jones Ltd. advanced
2.4%.
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