Most Asian markets advance; Nikkei extends winning streak

BANGKOK – Most Asian stock markets rose yesterday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index extending a four-day winning streak as other benchmarks followed Wall Street’s lead upward.

Oil prices hovered above $86 a barrel as violent protests in the Middle East kept investors on edge about possible crude supply disruptions. In currencies, the dollar was weaker against the yen and the euro.

The Nikkei rose 0.1 percent to 10,848.91 after finishing at a fresh 10-month high the previous day thanks to a growing appetite among foreign investors for Japanese shares. But a reinvigorated yen dragged down a few exporters, notably Toyota Motor Corp., down 0.6 percent; Hitachi Corp., down 0.4 percent; and Sony, lower by 0.3 percent.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.8 percent to 2,013.32 with tech shares among the day’s best performers, including Samsung Electronics, up 0.8 percent and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. up one percent. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore and New Zealand also advanced.

“I think the lead overnight from the US was pretty positive,” said Tey Tze Ming, a trader at Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore. “There’s more of a feel-good factor than anything else today” moving the markets.

While anti-government strife across the Middle East was having an impact on oil prices and currencies, Ming said equities were “a little slower to respond” to immediate news; the most recent developments – including a violent crackdown on demonstrators in Bahrain on Thursday – were not enough to fluster stock investors.

Meanwhile, China shares struggled amid the release of newly calculated data that showed property prices rose in most cities in January despite renewed efforts to cool the overheated market.

The National Statistics Bureau figures for 70 of the country’s largest cities showed prices declining from a year earlier in only two cities and unchanged in five. Compared with December, 10 cities saw increases of 10 percent or more.