Asian Shares Rise on Accelerated Japanese Export Growth

By Investors Hub

Most Asian stocks rose on Monday after data showed Japanese export growth accelerated in November and top U.S. Republicans said they expect Congress to pass a tax code overhaul.

The legislation will reduce corporate as well as individual tax rates and is intended to boost growth in the world’s largest economy.

China?s Shanghai Composite Index inched up 2.19 points or 0.1 percent to 3,268.33, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 202.30 points or 0.7 percent to 29,050.41.

House prices in majority of the Chinese cities increased in November, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. On a monthly basis, house prices climbed in 50 cities out of 70 surveyed by the government.

Japanese shares rose for the first time in five sessions, as the yen weakened on optimism about lawmakers passing tax reform legislation in the U.S. and data showed Japanese exports grew at a faster than forecast pace in November.

The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 348.55 points or 1.6 percent to finish at 22,901.77, marking its biggest single-day rise in over a month, led by financials and exporters. The broader Topix index closed 1.4 percent higher at 1,817.90.

Exporters Sony, Honda and Toyota Motor jumped 1-3 percent, while banks Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial advanced 2.9 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, Kajima Corp dropped 2.7 percent on a Nikkei report that the offices of Kajima and Shimizu were raided by Japanese prosecutors for alleged antitrust violations in a bid-rigging probe over a high-speed railway project.

Australian shares rose for the first time in three sessions, with positive political developments in the U.S. and an uptick in commodity prices on global growth optimism providing support.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 41.90 points or 0.7 percent to 6,038.90, while the broader All Ordinaries Index finished up 42.90 points or 0.7 percent at 6,130.

Lender ANZ rallied 2.1 percent after announcing a $1.5 billion share buyback. The other three banks rose between 0.1 percent and half a percent after the government said it foresees smaller budget deficits and expects to get back to surplus by 2020/21.

Higher commodity prices helped lift miners, with Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton rising 1-2 percent. Energy stocks closed on a mixed note.

Cloud collaboration software provider Aconex soared as much as 44 percent after it received a A$1.6 billion ($1.19 billion) buyout offer from U.S. technology giant Oracle (ORCL).