Stocks in Asia rallied after the European Central Bank announced
a bond-buying program aimed at shoring up a flagging eurozone
economy.
Gains were rippling across the globe, with Australia's
S&P/ASX 200 up 1.2% and the Nikkei Stock Average up 0.9%.
Investors expect that Europe's bond-buying efforts will support
money flows to riskier investments, including to stocks. U.S.
stocks rose earlier.
The ECB said it would buy 60 billion euros a month in assets
including government bonds, debt securities issued by European
institutions and private-sector bonds. Its move was largely
anticipated although the size of the asset-purchase was larger than
many had forecast. Denmark's central bank cut its main interest
rate, underscoring how quickly the ECB's move is likely to
encourage easing across the region.
A sharp move in crude oil boosted Australian energy stocks.
Woodside Petroleum Ltd. was up 2.1% and Santos Ltd. moved 4.7%
higher, although airlines fell, with Qantas Airways Ltd. down 0.9%
and Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd. off 1.1%.
Crude oil jumped on news that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin
Abdulaziz Al-Saud died , on expectations that a leadership
transition in the world's largest oil exporter could lead the
kingdom and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
to abandon their prior stance and cut production. New York
Mercantile Exchange March crude rose by as much as 3% after the
announcement, and was up 2.1% at $47.29 a barrel in early Asia
trading hours. It had slid overnight to $46.31.
In China, investors await a preliminary reading on manufacturing
activity in January by HSBC, in the first indicator of the
country's economy for 2015.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was up 1.2%.
Write to Chao Deng at Chao.Deng@wsj.com
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