(RTTNews) - The stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed sharply higher on Monday as a joint announcement from the U.S. and European Union leaders that they will host a summit of Group of Eight and other major economies on the global financial crisis encouraged investors to buy stocks. In South Korea, stocks rallied after the government announced a $130-billion package to shore up the country’s troubled banking sector. Japan’s Nikkei index jumped 3.6%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index surged up 4.3%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index soared 5.3%. Oil rose for a second day on Monday on hopes that OPEC would announce a production cut to shore up falling oil prices. In currency trading, the dollar strengthened to trade in the lower 102-yen levels in late Tokyo deals.

On Friday, U.S. stocks finished lower, as traders weighed some weaker-than-expected economic data against better-than-expected earnings from some big name companies. The Dow closed down 127 points or 1.4% at 8,852, the Nasdaq closed down 6 points or 0.4% at 1,711, and the S&P 500 closed down nearly 6 points or 0.6% at 940.

At 5:07 a.m. ET, oil was quoted at $73.45 a barrel, up $1.60, after the contract for November delivery closed at $71.15 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1.30 for the session, on Friday.

The U.S. dollar was quoted in the lower 102-yen levels in late Tokyo deals compared to the mid 101-yen range in early trade and lower 101-yen levels late Friday. Meanwhile, the South Korean won finished the local session higher against the dollar at 1,315.0 a dollar. The Australian dollar also closed firmer at US$0.6993-0.6996, but the New Zealand dollar fell against the dollar ahead of inflation data and an expected hefty cut in official interest rates to US$0.6120 in late local trades.

The Japanese stock market closed sharply higher, extending Friday’s gains. The market started off higher and the key Nikkei index closed above the 9,000 mark after bargain hunting picked up momentum in the afternoon session. Additionally, a weaker yen supported the exporters. The 225-issue Nikkei index closed up 311.77 points, or 3.6%, at 9,005.59, ending above 9,000 for the first time in three trading days. The TOPIX index of all the first-section issues advanced 33.08 points, or 3.7%, to 927.37 after gaining 29.77 points in the previous session.

On the economic front, Japan’s Cabinet Office said in a final report that the leading index fell to 89 in August from 91.4 in July. The August reading was revised from 89.3 reported initially. Meanwhile, the coincident economic index logged a reading of 100.6 in August, down from an initially estimated 100.7 and 103.5 seen in the previous month. At the same time, the lagging index came in at 100.5 versus 100.2 reported previously. The index was also down from previous month’s 101.

Panasonic jumped 8.9% following a Nikkei report over the weekend that the electronics maker is now expected to report a group operating profit of around 220 billion yen to 250 billion yen for the fiscal first half ended September, topping its forecast of a 9% drop to 200 billion yen.

Nippon Steel and JFE Holdings also gained on the back of a Nikkei report that both the firms were expected to upgrade their group pretax profit estimates for this fiscal year ending March. Nippon Steel gained 4.4%, while JFE surged 9.2%.

Elpida Memory did not trade for the fourth straight session, ending ask-only and limit-down on falling DRAM memory prices and share glut fears over the company’s plan to issue moving strike convertible bonds.

In the banking space, Mizuho Financial Group advanced 1.5%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group gained 1.7%, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group jumped 5.3%. Among tech stocks, Advantest climbed 4.6%, Fanuc rose 0.8%, Kyocera moved up 4.7%, and Fujitsu added 4.4%.

Defensive stocks such as drugmakers continued to gain amid worries about the global economy. Takeda Pharmaceutical advanced 3.3% and Astellas Pharma surged 7.0%.

Among commodity-related stocks Mitsui & Co. jumped 5.8%, Mitsubishi Corp rose 4.3%, oil and gas miner Inpex Holdings gained 3.2%, and Nippon Oil soared 6.6%.

The South Korean stock market closed higher, snapping a three-day losing streak. Seoul stocks rebounded from a three-year low hit on Friday as investors bought stocks following South Korean government’s $130 billion financial rescue package for banks and stock market. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI finished a volatile session up 26.96 points, or 2.28%, at 1,207.63, as gains in the stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region offset investors’ doubts over the effectiveness of the government’s financial stabilization package.

South Korea announced Sunday that it will provide $100 billion worth of state guarantees for local banks’ foreign debts as part of efforts to ease the dollar shortage in the local financial sector and shore up market confidence. The government and the central bank will also provide $30 billion to local banks and exporters by using its foreign reserve holdings. Despite the sweeping measures the KOSPI fluctuated, dipping 2.65% at one point.

On the economic front, South Korea’s central bank said Monday that the nation’s economic growth is set to slow in coming months as exports are likely to lose steam due to a global economic downturn amid sluggish domestic demand.

In the banking space, Shinhan Financial Group jumped 5.3% and KB Financial Group, the holding company of Kookmin Bank, rose 2.8%. However, the state-owned Industrial Bank of Korea tumbled 6.2% on concerns that the government’s plan to inject 1 trillion won into the lender might dilute share value.

Exporters gained ground. Market leader Samsung Electronics rose 3.2% and top carmaker Hyundai Motor soared 12.0%.

The Chinese stock market closed higher, extending Friday’s gains, on expectations that the government would take necessary measures to boost the economy as third-quarter economic data released today confirmed a slowdown. Property developers, banks and resources led the gainers. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed up 43.36 points or 2.25% at 1,974.01, after falling as low as 1,890.92 in morning trade.

Among a slew of economic data released today, China’s GDP rose 9.9% on year in the nine months to September, and rose 9.0% on year in the third quarter. Growth slowed from 10.6% in the first quarter and 10.1% in the second. The National Bureau of Statistics also said that industrial value-added output rose 11.4% on year-over-year basis in September, slowing from the 12.8% increase in August. In September, China’s consumer price index rose 4.6%, down from 4.9% in August, the bureau said.

In the property sector, China Vanke jumped 5.8% and Poly Real Estate Group surged 6.2%. Among banks, China Construction Bank advanced 1.4% after it reported a 48% increase in net profit for the first nine months in a preliminary earnings statement. China CITIC Bank gained 3.9% after the bank forecast a net profit growth of over 130% under Chinese accounting standards in the first nine months of the current year.

Among resources stocks, China Shenhua Energy climbed 6.1% and Jiangxi Copper rose 4.2%. China Petroleum & Chemical or Sinopec gained 2.7%, but index heavyweight PetroChina lost 1.9%.

Elsewhere in the financial sector, brokerage CITIC Securities jumped 9.7% and Haitong Securities surged by the 10% daily limit. Ping An Insurance closed up 2.1% despite forecasting a net loss in the first nine months of 2008 due to losses on its investment in Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis.

The Hong Kong stock market closed sharply higher, snapping a three-day losing streak, on hopes that China will take fresh measures to boost its economy after the nation’s growth slowed to its weakest pace in five years. The benchmark Hang Seng index closed up 768.8 points or 5.28% at 15,323.01.

Stocks rose across the board, with property developers, China financials, oil refiners and telecom stocks gaining the most in today’s trading session.

China Mobile surged up than 7.6% ahead of the announcement of its third-quarter results.
Sinopec soared 10.6% and PetroChina gained 8.3% on speculation that China may approve a hike in oil product prices.

The Australian stock market closed sharply higher, ending a three-day losing streak. The market started off higher and extended its gains on bargain hunting following recent steep losses in the banking and resources sectors. The S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 171.5 points, or 4.3%, to 4,142.3 and the broader All Ordinaries index advanced 157.9 points, or 3.9%, to 4,098.7.

On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that producer price index for the third quarter rose 5.6% annually compared to a 4.7% gain in the second quarter. The report added that the producer prices grew 2.0% on quarter in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, the Department of Employment announced that annual wages in Australia climbed an average of 4.0% on year in the second quarter of 2008 from the 3.7% annual increase in the first quarter.

Among major banks, National Australia Bank surged 6.4%, Commonwealth Bank rose 4.3%, and ANZ Banking Group jumped 5.2%. Westpac soared 6.8% and its takeover target St George Bank advanced 4.6%. Macquarie Group climbed 1.7% after the company announced that it would sell its Italian mortgages portfolio because of increases in funding costs.

In the resources sector, index leader BHP Billiton soared 7.7% and its rival and takeover target Rio Tinto rose 5.9%. Energy stocks gained as oil prices continued to climb for a second day on Monday. Santos jumped 9.3% and sector leader Woodside Petroleum advanced 6.4%. Gold miners closed lower on weaker gold prices. Newcrest Mining lost 2.6% and Lihir Gold fell 3.8%.

Retailers posted strong gains, with David Jones advancing 4.8%, Harvey Norman surging up 7.1%, Coles owner Wesfarmers adding 2.7% and Woolworths jumping 5.9%.

Aquila Resources sank 14.9 percent to A$3.66 after dropping a plan to spin off its exploration assets into a separately listed company, due to credit and equity market volatility.

Atlas Iron plunged 20.0%. The company said that mining operations at its Pardoo iron ore project in Western Australia would be rescheduled to ensure that its product remains competitive amid weakening demand for the steelmaking commodity.

The New Zealand stock market closed sharply higher ahead of an expected large interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand this week. The central bank is expected to cut the official cash rate by as much as 100 basis points on Thursday, according to economists. The market opened sharply higher and extended its gains for the second consecutive trading session. The benchmark NZX 50 index closed up 81.16 points, or 2.89%, at 2,889.92.

On the economic front, Statistics New Zealand reported Monday that the value of credit and debit card spending in New Zealand increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in September compared to August, driven largely by non-retail industries. Retail transactions were flat. The core retail sales, which excludes motor vehicle related transactions, was down 0.4% in September following a 1.6% increase in August.

Meanwhile, businesses in New Zealand’s services sector reported reduced activity for the third straight month in September, according to the latest Performance of Services Index reading. The Bank of New Zealand/Business New Zealand survey showed a drop of 1.0 point to an index reading of 46.9, with readings below 50.0 indicating contraction in the measured sector. It marked the second lowest reading for the index since the series began in April 2007.

Top stock Telecom surged up 6.8%, Contact Energy advanced 3.4%, and Fletcher Building gained 3.9%. Other gainers included, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare 5.0%, SkyCity 5.4%, Mainfreight rose 5.6%, Infratil 2.0%, Trustpower 2.9%, and Auckland Airport 4.6%.

Among losers, Freightways slipped 0.3%, Fisher and Paykel Appliances declined 1.5% and Port of Tauranga lost 2.3%.

The Warehouse closed unchanged amid speculation that Australia’s top grocer Woolworths would proceed with a takeover bid. Goodman Property Trust rose 0.9% after the company announced the sale of two buildings in Parnell.

Pike River Coal jumped 5.2% after the company reported Friday that it had struck coal at its West Coast mine after two years of tunneling. Steel & Tube slumped 21.7% after OneSteel pulled its bid on Friday. Steel & Tube said Monday that its quarterly profit was up on last year.

Other Asian markets:

Taiwan’s Taiex closed up 1.9% at 4,931; Malaysia’s KLCI closed up 4.3 points at 909; Singapore’s STI closed up 3.2% at 1,939; Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index closed up 2.04% at 1,426; and India’s Sensex finished up 2.5% at 10,223.

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