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Updated Friday, September 28, 2007 0:00 am TWN, AP



	Asian markets rallied Thursday, helped by gains overnight on Wall Street, as Japanese shares rose to a six-week high and the markets in Hong Kong hitting a new record. In Tokyo, recent yen weakness and gains in financial shares lifted the Nikkei 225 index 396.48 points, or 2.41 percent, to ... Enlarge Photo

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Asia rallies; Nikkei hits 6-week high

BANGKOK -- Asian markets rallied Thursday, helped by gains overnight on Wall Street, as Japanese shares rose to a six-week high and the markets in Hong Kong hitting a new record.

In Tokyo, recent yen weakness and gains in financial shares lifted the Nikkei 225 index 396.48 points, or 2.41 percent, to 16,832.22 points, the highest close since Aug. 14.

Exporters gained, with Toyota Motor Corp. adding 1.2 percent to 6,690 yen and Sony Corp. gaining 2.9 percent to 5,590 yen.

Traders said that investors may lift the Nikkei index to the 17,000 mark Friday, but gains will come from end-of-month window-dressing rather than a better economic outlook.

“We just have to wait and see if there could be further short-covering tomorrow,” said Matthew Lutter, Tokyo head of institutional sales at KBC Securities Japan. “But we don’t see this as natural buying, or any asset allocation change, or any improvement in the fundamentals of Japan’s economy.”

Banks gained on bargain-hunting, with Resona Holdings Inc. jumping 13 percent to 203,000 yen and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. gaining 4.8 percent to 658,000 yen.

Consumer finance lender Takefuji Corp. jumped 16 percent to 2,155 yen on a report in The Nikkei that the consumer loan firm expects to see a net profit of about 51 billion yen for the fiscal year ending March 31 after chalking up a net loss of 481.2 billion yen last year.

In Hong Kong, the market was lifted robust gains in Chinese telecommunications operators China Mobile and China Netcom.

The blue chip Hang Seng Index rose 634.86 points, or 2.4 percent, to 27,065.15. Financial markets in Hong Kong were closed Wednesday for the Mid-Autumn Festival public holiday.

The benchmark index has risen over 35 percent since the beginning of the year.

Analysts said the bull market will likely continue on the flush liquidity expected to be channeled to the local equities market from various investment programs to be set up in mainland China in the near term.

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