MW: Asia shares rally, helped by U.S. gains, Egypt
By Michael Kitchen
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Asian stocks rallied in Monday trading, with a calmer situation in Egypt and Friday gains on Wall Street helping drive the rise. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (HK:HANGSENG 23,121, +292.14, +1.28%) was up 1.5% in afternoon trade, while the Shanghai Composite (CN:SHCOMP 2,899, +71.81, +2.54%) was 2.7% higher just ahead of the close. A faster increase for China's exports and imports, according to data Monday, helped support a strong climb for some resource shares, with Hong Kong-listed stock in Jiangxi Copper Co. (HK:358 25.45, +1.00, +4.09%) (JIXAY 125.14, -7.12, -5.38%) up 3.7%, and those of Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., or Chalco (ACH 24.18, +0.33, +1.38%) (HK:2600 7.74, +0.34, +4.60%) rising 3.4%. In Tokyo, the Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NI225 10,726, +119.89, +1.13%) ended with a 1.1% gain, as gross domestic product for the October-December quarter beat expectations, despite posting a contraction. Among Japanese blue chips, Toshiba Corp. (JP:6502 529.00, +20.00, +3.93%) (TOSYY 37.20, +0.77, +2.11%) added 3.9%, also helped by a weakening in the yen in recent days. Elsewhere, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO 4,936, +54.88, +1.12%) finished 1.1% higher, Korea's Kospi (XX:$SEU 2,015, +37.40, +1.89%) added 1.9%, and India's Sensex (XX:SENSEX 18,202, +473.59, +2.67%) was 2.2% ahead in morning trading.
