China Steel Corporation

Asian stocks received a positive lead on Wednesday as US and European markets were lifted after Greece debt concerns eased. Asian markets ended mostly higher Tuesday. Australian share advanced 0.3 per cent despite central bank raised the official interest rate by 25 basis points in board meeting yesterday. South Korea's Kospi posted a solid gain yesterday with a 1.3 per cent rise, Japan's Nikkei 225 Average gained 0.5 per cent and Taiwan's Taiex was up 0.3 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.7 per cent, dragged by disappointing earnings of HSBC. China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.5 per cent.

Wall Street slumped sharply on Thursday after disappointing earnings reports and news of China's further tightening bank lending. The US dollar soared to one month high against a basket of currencies while investors shifted to haven.

Wall Street stocks tumbled overnight on a second downgrade of Greece's sovereign debt in a month and Citigroup's capital raising. The US dollar rebounded as investors cut riskier assets. The US dollar index, which measures its performance against a basket of major currencies, rose to its highest level in more than three months.

The Australian shares were broadly higher. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 rose 76.4 points, or 2 per cent, at 3894.4, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 74.6 points, or 1.96 per cent, to 3887.9 points. Besides the strong lead from Wall Street, the rising commodities prices may also push up the market today.

Asian markets opened broadly lower on Tuesday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped with a massive 4.4 per cent fall in early trading, while Tokyo stocks were also under pressure, weighed by the tumble on Wall Street and stronger Yen.