(MENAFN- AFP) Asian markets mostly rose for a second straight day Wednesday, following another slate of impressive US data that helped the dollar march towards the 120-yen mark for the first time in seven years.
Oil prices edged up after suffering another sell-off in New York in reaction to news that Iraq had signed a deal that will see it export more crude to an already saturated world market.
Tokyo climbed for a fourth straight session, adding 0.32 percent, or 57.21 points, to end at 17,720.43. Sydney gained 0.77 percent, or 40.5 points, to close at 5,321.8, while Seoul rose 0.21 percent, or 4.08 points, to close at 1,969.91.
Shanghai advanced 0.58 percent, or 15.98 points, to 2,779.53, but Hong Kong fell 0.95 percent, or 225.68 points, to 23,428.62.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that US construction spending rose 1.1 percent in September, almost twice as much as expected, while industry specialist AutoData said the car industry saw a healthy 4.6 percent increase in sales last month.
News that US online sales rose 16 percent on "Cyber Monday" from a year earlier, according to the Adobe 2014 Digital Index, also helped to cheer markets.
The estimate for Monday's sales, often seen as the annual highpoint for online retail, helped offset disappointing data on the "Black Friday" kickoff of the Christmas shopping season.
The figures are the latest sign that the world's number one economy is back on track. On Wall Street US traders sent the Dow 0.58 percent higher to another record close, while the S&P 500 added 0.64 percent and the Nasdaq put on 0.60 percent.
Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities, said the latest data confirmed "the US economy seems to be leading" global growth momentum.
- Dollar nears 120 yen -
Forex dealers also cheered the news, pushing the dollar to 119.30 yen in Tokyo -- around levels last seen in August 2007 and up from 119.22 yen in New York.
The greenback has surged against the yen since the Bank of Japan's stimulus boost in October and is now heading towards the 120 yen mark, which it last broke in July 2007.
In other trade, the euro bought $1.2374 and 147.60 yen, against $1.2381 and 147.62 yen.
Oil prices edged up after tumbling Tuesday on news that Baghdad and autonomous Kurds had struck a deal that will boost the country's crude exports.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in January rose 52 cents to $67.40 a barrel and Brent added 35 cents to $70.89. WTI had fallen $2.12 Tuesday while Brent had shed $2.00.
The announcement comes less than a week after the OPEC oil cartel refused to cut production, despite a global oversupply, sending the price of black gold plunging to five-year lows.
Gold was at $1,200.49 an ounce, compared with $1,198.25 late Tuesday.
In other markets:
-- Taipei added 1.55 percent, or 140.47 points, to 9,175.26.
Smartphone maker HTC rose 1.94 percent to Tw$94.5 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was 0.36 percent higher at Tw$138.0.
-- Wellington put on 1.34 percent, or 73.03 points, to 5,503.07.
Contact Energy was up 0.48 percent at NZ$6.31 and Xero tacked on 0.31 percent to NZ$16.40.
-- Manila closed 0.22 percent higher, adding 16.52 points to 7,360.75.
Technology stock Xurpas surged 41.18 percent to 8.40 pesos while SM Prime Holdings fell 0.12 percent to 17 pesos.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.