Asian Markets Surge As Dollar Comes Back

Greenback back above 100 yen; best day in a month in Tokyo
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 19, 2008 3:53 AM CDT
Asian Markets Surge As Dollar Comes Back
Chairman and CEO of China Mobile Limited Wang Jianzhou, speaks during an announcement of the company's results in Hong Kong Wednesday, March 19, 2008. China Mobile Ltd., China's dominant mobile phone carrier, said Wednesday that its 2007 profit rose 32 percent from a year earlier on rapid growth in...   (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Stocks in Asia had their best day in a month as investors reacted to the Fed's 75-point rate cut and a top Chinese company announced higher-than-expected earnings. The Nikkei climbed 2.5%, with financial stocks leading gains, reports Bloomberg. Companies with substantial business in America also did well—Canon jumped 6.3%, Nintendo 5%—as the dollar made its biggest gain against the yen in almost a decade, pushing back above ¥100.

In Hong Kong a good quarterly report saw China Mobile, the world's most popular wireless operator, jump 3.4%.  Yesterday's quarterly reports by Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, who posted losses but nevertheless beat expectations, also emboldened the Asian financial world. "The better-than-expected bank earnings give some relief that the worst may be over," said an asset manager based in Singapore. (More Asian markets stories.)

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