By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks paced advancers in
Asian equity markets Thursday after Washington lawmakers voted to
reopen the U.S. government and raise the debt ceiling.
The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate voted to
restore federal operations, funding the government through Jan. 15,
and to raise the debt ceiling until Feb. 7. The House passed the
Senate-crafted bill by a 285-to-144 margin. U.S. President Barack
Obama said he will sign the legislation "immediately," and federal
workers were expected to return to work Thursday.
Investors worldwide had been concerned that the U.S. could
default on its debt obligations, resulting in a disruption of
business activity and long-running efforts to encourage global
economic growth.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average climbed 1.2% and the broader Topix
index rose 1%. The export-heavy market was aided by the yen's
pullback against the U.S. dollar, which took strength from
Washington's agreement.
The Hang Seng Index rose 0.1%, and the Shanghai Composite Index
picked up 0.6%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2%, though off
its opening gains, and South Korea's Kospi picked up 0.1%, also off
its intraday high.
Now that Congress has passed the legislation, the "focus will
soon turn to the delayed [U.S.] data releases and the economic
implication of shutdown," wrote Crédit Agricole analyst Gary Yau in
a note. "The fact that the same scenarios could happen again in a
few months' time will also play in investors' minds, but
nevertheless, we expect market tone to improve over the near
term."
The widely watched monthly U.S. jobs report is among the data
that weren't released during the 16-day government shutdown. The
Bureau of Labor Statistics will need three days to complete
September's report, said Crédit Agricole, which may result in it
being issued by next Tuesday, .
Over in Tokyo, gains for the U.S. dollar (USDJPY) helped support
the advance. The U.S. unit bought as much as Yen99.05 compared with
Yen98.75 late Wednesday. After the House vote, however, the
greenback eased back to around Yen98.57, but Japanese equities held
their gains.
Among the advancers, shares of Fujitsu Ltd. (FJTSY) topped
advancers as they tacked on 4.9%, and Mazda Motor Corp. (7261.TO)
rose 3.6%.
Also higher were shares of Kansai Electric Power Co. , rising
2.6% after the utility swung to a first-half pretax profit of 31
billion yen ($314 million).
Hong Kong advancers included ZTE Corp. (ZTCOY) , which traded
4.8% higher after announcing it had garnered a "more-than-60% share
of the contracts in China Mobile's group tender for 100G Optical
Transport Networking products for 2013, exceeding the combined
total of all other vendors."
Stock in China Mobile Ltd. (CHL) rose 0.4%.
Finance shares, however, turned lower, with China's central bank
ready to take out 44.5 billion yuan ($7.3 billion) from the banking
system this week though regular open-market operations, according
to Dow Jones Newswires. Shares of Bank of China Ltd. (BACHY) lost
0.3%, while Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. (ACGBF) fell 0.5%.
In Sydney, shares of Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCMGF) underperformed
the broader market, falling 0.9% after the gold producer said it
faces about 120 million Australian dollars ($115 million) in extra
tax charges this fiscal year.
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