Asian Stocks Jump On IMF Forecast, Spain Debt Auction

Asian stock markets surged Wednesday, following solid gains on Wall Street overnight as stronger International Monetary Fund (IMF) global forecast and falling Spanish bond yields buoyed sentiment.

The Japanese benchmark Nikkei rallied 2.14 percent or 202.55 points to 9,667.26, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.01 percent or 208.38 points to 20,770.69 and Chinese Shanghai surged 1.96 percent while Indian benchmark BSE Sensex advanced 0.66 percent.

All the three major benchmark indices in the US surged more than 1.5 percent Tuesday. Weaker-than-expected reports on industrial production and housing starts were offset by good corporate earnings and falling Spanish bond yields.

Spanish 10-year bond yields declined to below 6 percent level Tuesday as the 12-month and 18-month bill auction of Europe's fifth-largest economy went well.

Meanwhile, stronger IMF's global forecast also added to the sentiment. In its World Economic Outlook, the IMF estimated global growth at an annual rate of 3.5 percent for 2012 and 4.1 percent for 2013. Earlier, it had forecast 3.3 percent for 2012 and 4.0 percent for next year.

Technology stocks in Asia rallied following better-than-expected first quarter earnings from Intel Corp. TDK Corp. surged 3.73 percent and Tokyo Electron gained 2.74 percent in Tokyo, while Samsung Electronics surged 3.52 percent in Seoul.

Among the financials, Mizuho Financial Group surged 3.17 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group advanced 2.85 percent while Woori Finance advanced 0.4 percent.

In India, stocks gained for the third straight session, led by gains from financial and auto shares. HDFC Bank advanced 1.26 percent and nation's biggest lender SBI advanced 0.92 percent while Tata Motors advanced 1.96 percent.