Market Features

Return to Article

Asian Stocks Finish Higher Monday

Joseph Woelfel

Asian stocks closed higher Monday as South Korea announced plans to pump 14 trillion won ($10.8 billion) into its economy to help avoid a recession.

The Kospi index in South Korea finished up 1.4% as the country unveiled a package that will include spending 4.6 trillion won on regional infrastructure and provide 3 trillion won in tax benefits, mainly extending tax breaks on investment in factories, Finance Minister Kang Man Soo said, according to a Bloomberg report.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose 2.7%, while the S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia closed higher by 5.1%.

Markets in Japan Monday were closed for a holiday.

Stocks in Europe rose. The FTSE 10 index in London was higher by 0.7%, while the DAX in Frankfurt was trading up 1.5%.

Societe Generale, the third largest bank in France, reported a decline of 84% in third-quarter earnings on major writedowns, while Germany's Commerzbank reported a third-quarter loss and said it would get a capital injection from the German government.

Lloyds TSB (LYG) reported a pretax loss in the first nine months of the year, while HBOS, which is being acquired by U.K. bank Lloyds, recorded a large impairment charge for the first nine months of the year because of trouble in the credit and housing markets.

Stock futures in the U.S. were higher. S&P futures rose 1.70 points to 969, and were 1.58 points above fair value. Nasdaq futures rose 17.25 points to 1340, and were 3.11 points above fair value.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 144.32 points, or 1.6%, to 9325.01, and the S&P 500 rose 14.66 points, or 1.5%, to 968.75. The Nasdaq finished higher by 22.43 points, or 1.3%, to 1720.95.