Asian stock markets rise after Wall Street rally

TOKYO – Asian markets rose robustly Tuesday as investors regained some confidence on Wall Street's second straight day of day of strong gains, spurred by a U.S. government bailout of banking giant Citigroup.

Initial reaction in the region to the Citigroup news — which broke midday Monday in Asia — was tepid, and most benchmarks had ended the day lower. But after seeing markets in Europe and the U.S. surge overnight, Asian investors joined in the rally.

"The rescue of Citigroup does help ease concerns," said Singapore-based investment analyst Nicole Sze of Bank Julius Baer & Co., which manages about $300 billion in assets. "Citigroup is such a crucial financial institution in the global market. The U.S. action does fuel a return of confidence."

In Japan, which had been on holiday Monday, the Nikkei 225 stock average soared 413.14 points, or 5.2 percent, to 8,323.93.

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX200 index leaped 5.8 percent to close at 3,623.4, led by materials, energy, banks and consumer discretionary stocks.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose nearly 4 percent to 12,940.42, and the Philippines' main index jumped more than 6 percent. Among major indices, only mainland China and Singapore were in the red.

Wall Street and European markets surged Monday on news that the U.S. government will take a $20 billion stake in Citigroup and guarantee hundreds of billions of dollars in risky assets. The Dow Jones industrials soared 396.97 points, or 4.93 percent, to 8,443.39 Monday — the first two-day advance since Oct. 31.

U.S. stock index futures were mixed. Dow futures were up 4 points, or 0.1 percent, to 8,389, while Nasdaq futures were down 5.25 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,141.75.

Japanese officials in Tokyo hailed Washington's move.

Economy Minister Kaoru Yosano called the plan a "courageous decision" to save the massive global banking group, noting that the world's economy could be affected by Citigroup's fate, according to Kyodo news agency.

All three of Japan's megabanks climbed. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. soared 11.48 percent, Mizuho Financial Group Inc. added 9.17 percent, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. closed up 2.85 percent.

Wall Street's gains also drove commodity markets higher as oil prices jumped 9 percent Monday, though they slipped back bit in Asian trading Tuesday. Commodity shares in Australia gained, with BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, surging 12.2 percent, and rival Rio Tinto advancing 6.9 percent.

After jumping $4.57 overnight, light, sweet crude for January delivery was down $1.00 to $53.50 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore.

In currencies, the dollar fell to 96.34 yen from 96.88 yen late Monday. The euro also slid to $1.2830 from $1.2925.

In Europe Monday, Britain's FTSE 100 index jumped 9.8 percent to 4,152.96, Germany's DAX soared 10.3 percent to 4,554.33 and France's CAC-40 gained 10.1 percent at 3,172.11.