Asian markets rebound on news of G7 intervention

Asian markets rebounded today, led by Japan, which gained almost 3 per cent. The gains came on the back of a G7 announcement that it will intervene to help arrest the strong move on the Japanese Yen.

 Japanese stocks climbed, paring their worst weekly performance since 2008, as the country continued to grapple with the aftermath of the earthquakes and tsunami that hit last week. Honda Motor Co, Japan’s second largest carmaker by sales jumped 0.8%. Kyocera Corp, an electronics maker that gets more than half of its sales abroad advanced 3.5%. 

In Hong Kong, stocks rose trimming the benchmark index’s weekly decline. PetroChina Co, China’s biggest oil producer, gained 2.9 per cent after reporting earnings that beat analyst estimates. Henderson Land Development Co, the homebuilder controlled by billionaire Lee Shau-kee increased 3.7% after saying 2010 underlying profit improved 9 per cent.

In Australia, the share market rebounded after the G-7 group of nations intervened to curb the strength in the Japanese Yen.

This (G7 intervention) gave the markets a bit of a lifeline, but I don’t think the overall sentiment has really changed.

There are definitely bargain hunters scouting and buying at very low levels. But it’s possible that it’s not really a turnaround (in the market sentiment).

This intervention is definitely temporary. It’s got a very unnatural feel to it. And I think the impact will be temporary, at best.

Investors and traders are buying at the moment, but I think they will be happy to rush out of the market at the slightest hint of any negative news. 

If you consider things closely, there are still a lot of uncertainties hanging around. Libya and the Middle East and the Japanese situation are nowhere near being resolved. So, the basic fundamentals have not changed that much over the past few days. Anxiety and uncertainty may be hanging around in the short-term.