Asian markets up on Wall Street lead

Asian shares recovered last week’s losses.


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By :  ,  Financial Analyst

Asian stock markets rose today (October 20th) after Wall Street's rebound and hopes that Japan's $1.2 trillion (£743.6 billion) pension fund will boost stock holdings.

Japan's Nikkei 225 soared four per cent to 15,083.91, as the dollar rose against the yen and a report stated the Government Pension Fund will increase its domestic equity holdings to 25 per cent from 12 per cent. 

South Korea's Kospi was up 1.6 per cent at 1,930.06 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.2 per cent to 23,070.26

This is a steep contrast with Friday, when Tokyo fell to close at a five-month low, hit by a stronger yen and concerns about Ebola and the global economy.

"The negativity we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks was way too exaggerated," Mikio Kumada, a Hong Kong-based global strategist at LGT Capital Partners, told Bloomberg. "Liquidity is still there if you think of what’s going on in Europe or in Japan, and the Fed is pretty flexible about responding to any shocks if necessary."

Learn about the Asian markets and CFD trading at City Index.

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