Asian stocks rise, bouyed by Wall Street, EU stress test

Tokyo ended up 0.77 percent, with exporters helped by a weaker yen and optimism about upcoming earnings results after a report by the Nikkei business daily that Sony had probably swung to the black in the first quarter. The Topix index of major firms was up 0.55 percent.

While many analysts questioned the credibility of Europe's banking “stress tests”, which came out on Friday, investors generally took the results in their stride, as did European markets when they opened later.

“Much of the negative news on Europe's financial and economic conditions was priced in since May so the market's focus is starting to shift away from the issue and on to earnings,” Yoshinori Nagano, senior strategist at Daiwa Asset Management, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Sentiment around the Asia-Pacific region was helped by last week's solid gains on Wall Street, where the Dow reached its highest level in a month.

Hong Kong closed up 0.12 percent, adding 24.58 points to 20,839.91, lifted by optimism about upcoming earnings results from heavyweights such as HSBC and Hang Seng Bank.

Sydney was up 0.62 percent, closing at 4,486.1 after touching a four-week high of 4,503.1.

“I think the uncertainty about things like the European financial system and U.S. corporate earnings is continuing to recede,” said Macquarie Private Wealth Division director Martin Lakos.

Seoul ended up 0.63 percent, buoyed by data showing that South Korea's economy grew by a faster-than-expected 1.5 percent in the April-June quarter from three months earlier.

South Korea's central bank said growth in the nation, a recent economic high-flyer, had returned to pre-crisis levels, although global uncertainties remained a concern.

Shanghai closed up 0.65 percent at 2,588.68 after a nervous start, as confidence grows that Beijing will refrain from further economic tightening measures. Metals stocks also provided momentum after a report that the central government planned to limit production of non-ferrous metals.

Encouraging company earnings propelled Wall Street higher, with the Dow Jones index jumping 3.2 percent over last week.

However U.S. economic statistics this week could temper optimism about the world's largest economy, including an advance estimate of second-quarter economic growth due on Friday.

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