Asia Market Report-Nikkei hits two week high

Date: Thursday 03 Jun 2010

The Nikkei made its way to a two week high on Thursday as the weaker yen drove demand for exporters such as Canon.

Upbeat economic data from the US also provided fresh optimism about the global economy, taking the benchmark index 3.24% higher.

Carmakers stood out after a bounce in May US car sales. Shares in Honda took off, rising 4.3% in Tokyo. Toyota rallied 3.4% while Nissan Motor surged 4.5%.

Sentiment recovered a day after PM Yukio Hatoyama's decision to step down.
Japan's finance minister Naoto Kan is widely tipped to become the new PM.‎

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 310 points at 9,914 in Japan.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.8% on Thursday buoyed by better than expected US home sales. Sun Hung Kai Properties advanced 2.8% as upbeat Hong Kong data added to optimism. Hong Kong’s home sales rose 8.7% in May, data showed yesterday.

Sino Land added 2.6% while mortgage lender HSBC rose 2.1%.

Encouraging US economic data also lifted shares in Li & Fung 2.7%. The group supplies retailers such as Wal Mart.

The Hang Seng rose 314 points at 19,787.