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Asian shares rally to hit new highs | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Most Asian markets hit high new highs, taking a positive lead from Wall Street ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting. | |
Investors bet that downbeat data on US manufacturing, industrial output and housing released on Monday would lead the central bank to be cautious in its plans to raise interest rates. | |
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 closed up 1% at 19,437 after hitting a new 15-year high of 19,479.89. | |
Sentiment was also boosted by the Bank of Japan's upbeat economic view. | |
As expected, the central bank maintained its aggressive easing stance aimed at spurring growth. | |
The dollar was at 121.36 yen, little unchanged from 121.35 yen in New York overnight. | |
Mainland shares jump | |
Chinese shares were near seven-year highs after closing at a five-year high on Monday. | |
The Shanghai Composite was up 1.3% at 3,492.44 - holding firmly above the key 3,400 threshold. The benchmark is on track for positive gains for the fifth consecutive day. | |
Shares in China Railway Construction jumped 5.6% and China Railway Group gained 5.1% after local media reported that the state-backed firms are planning to merge to eliminate competition. | |
However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index bucked the regional trend and was down 0.3% at 23,876.67. | |
Australian shares closed higher, with investors encouraged after minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia suggested another rate cut could be on the cards. | |
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.8% at 5,842.1. | |
Shares of mining giant BHP Billiton rose 1.3% after it revealed more details about plans to spin off some of its assets into a new company called South32. | |
In South Korea, the Kospi index finished up 2.1% at 2,029.91 - its highest closing value since September. |