Asian shares are expected to remain rising after a rebound in most markets yesterday. On Tuesday China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.5%, Taiwan's Taiex surged 2% and South Korea's Kospi added 1.1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.2% spurred by Swiss banking major UBS's return to profit.
Asian equity markets Friday experienced heavy losses after Wall Street's tumble and concerns over European sovereign debt. Japan's Nikkei index fell 2.9%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 3.3%, its first finish below 20000 since September. South Korea's Kospi lost 3% to 1567.12, Taiwan's Taiex sank 4.3% and China's Shanghai Composite gave up 1.9%.
Asian markets received a bad lead from the US and European stocks while financial, commodity and materials sectors were all hit hard. Most Asian stock markets ended down Thursday ahead of the U.S. jobs report. Japan's Nikkei fell on the deepening fears over Toyota Motor's vehicle recall. China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.3%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gave up 1.8%.
Wall Street stocks posted gains on Wednesday. The market pared early losses in late trade as Federal Reserve kept its stimulative monetary policy unchanged and said it would hold interest rate at "exceptionally low" level for an extended period to support the economic recovery.
US shares tumbled sharply for a third straight day on Friday as continued worries about the White House's plan to limit bank risk-taking. Google's disappointing earnings also hit the tech stocks. For the week, the Dow dropped 4.1 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 3.9 per cent and the Nasdaq tumbled 3.6 per cent.
US market was closed yesterday for public holiday. European shares gained on the back of higher commodity prices overnight. Asian markets ended mixed on Monday while traders are awaiting US corporate earnings. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.9%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.4%, South Korea's Kospi gained 0.6% and Taiwan's Taiex slipped 0.2%.
Overnight US shares was lower on the disappointing Alcoa fourth-quarter report and profit warning from Chevron and Electronic Arts. Financial sector also fell as investors feared that a potential government levy might hurt bank profits.
