Wednesday's Asia Stocks Recap

Updated from 5:15 p.m. EST

Indian stocks snapped a four-day losing streak Wednesday, with the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex Index rebounding over 200 points, or 1.2%, to 16,542.08. Professional money managers and retail investors favored oversold blue-chip stocks like Infosys Technologies (INFY Quote).

"I clearly see this as a relief rally after heavy selling. There's no reason to think that this could at all be the beginning of a turnaround," said Nipun Mehta, chief executive of Unitis Tower Wealth Advisors.

Indian information technology firm Satyam Computer (SAY Quote) launched a new Global Solutions Center (GSC) facility in Egypt Wednesday to capture the growing outsourcing market, according to Reuters.

"With about 300 professionals, the GSC will serve as a major technological development and software support for Satyam's customers in the Middle East, North Africa and European region," said B. Rama Raju, co-founder and CEO of Satyam, during a teleconference from Egypt. ADR shares of Satyam closed up 6% to $25.78.

Also in the information technology sector, Infosys Technologies announced it's searching the European and Japanese markets for acquisitions in the price range of $200 million to $300 million to expand its global reach, according to The Economic Times. ADR shares of Infosys closed up 1.6% at $38.01.

In the Indian telecom sector, Tata Communications (TCL Quote) announced a strategic alliance with BitGravity. Tata will co-brand, resell and jointly market BitGravity's interactive video technology platform around the globe, according to myiris.com. ADR shares of TCL closed up 5.3% at $24.45.

Leading the advancers among Indian ADRs on Wednesday were Wipro Limited (WIT Quote), up 3.9% at $11.84; WNS Holdings (WNS Quote), up 3.5% to $15.04; and HDFC Bank (HDB Quote), rising 3.7% to $105.74.

Be sure to check out the Far East Portfolio at Stockpickr.com every night to find out which stocks in India and China are making big moves and announcing major news.

China Recap

Asian markets declined Wednesday on investor fears that a tightening monetary policy will soon sweep through the Far East. Those fears were initiated after China's premier, Wen Jiabao, warned the public that overheating remains China's top economic enemy even as global growth cools.

"The current price hikes and increasing inflationary pressures are the biggest concern of the people. Financial controls need to be strengthened, and the excessively fast growth in money supply and lending should be curbed," said Jiabao during his annual report to the 11th National People's Congress in Beijing.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 42.79 points, or 1%, at 4,292.65, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished down 5.5 points at 23,114.34.

Online business software firm Omniture(OMTR Quote) and Chinese search engine Badiu.com(BIDU Quote) announced a strategic advertising partnership to combine their technologies to improve the quality of online advertising in the Chinese market, according to BusinessWeek. ADR shares of Baidu were off 1.3% to $242.93, and Omniture closed up 3% at $21.98.

Chinese wireless media company KongZhong(KONG Quote) was in play Wednesday after the company reported an 81% decline in its fourth-quarter net income due to decreasing revenue and increasing expenses. KongZhong forecasted its first-quarter revenue for 2008 to be between $20 million and $21 million, vs. Wall Street estimates of $18.8 million. ADR shares of KongKhong traded off 18% to $4.98

Chinese telecom stocks found favor with investors after a bullish report circulated out of the China Securities Journal. The report mentioned that the Chinese government is looking to start the restructuring of China's telecommunications industry in the first half of 2008. Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients that a restructuring plan could close in the second quarter and personal changes in telecom firms could happen even sooner. Benefiting from the news were Chinese Telecom ADR names China Unicom(CHU Quote), up 6.9% to $21.81, and China Netcom(CN Quote), up 7.49% to $62.60.