Global Recovery Hopes Carry Asian Markets to 7-Month High

Shares in Asia’s markets rose to a seven-month peak on Wednesday and oil prices settled above $63 a barrel, as bets were placed on an economic recovery and analysts watched OPEC’s meeting in Vienna today. Saudi Arabia’s oil minister has said the organization was unlikely to cut output.

Here in Indonesia, sentiment was boosted by gains on regional markets and a Wall Street rally. The Jakarta Composite Index rose 1.9 percent to 1,892.

Regionally, hopes of recovery offset rising political tensions as North Korea threatened to attack South Korea after Seoul joined
a US-led effort to check vessels suspected of carrying weapons equipment. South Korean stocks fell 0.7 percent and the won came under pressure after the threat.

Last week’s fears that the United States could lose its top AAA credit rating appeared to take a back seat to optimism about global recovery. “It’s not to suggest that there’s an ‘onward and upwards’ recovery in the US and the globe, but it is consistent with the idea that the worst is behind us,” said Su-Lin Ong, senior economist at RBC Capital Markets in Sydney.

The MSCI index of Asian stocks outside Japan gained 2.4 percent. Japan’s Nikkei average rose 1.4 percent, breaking its 200-day moving average, with shares of exporters surging on the US consumer confidence report. Shares also rose strongly in Hong Kong, Singapore Mumbai and and Shanghai. Later in Europe, main indices closed higher by 0.1-0.8 percent.

Reuters, AP

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