Asian Stocks Close Higher; Europe Gains

By Stephen Wright

BANGKOK - Stocks across the globe rose Friday, boosted by a late turnaround on Wall Street and on hopes about government attempts to resuscitate ailing economies as Group of Seven finance ministers gathered in Rome.

Markets rebounded after swooning earlier this week on a lack of detail in the Obama administration's $2 trillion plan to revive the floundering U.S. banking sector. Investors seemed to take heart after Wall Street clawed back from deep losses Thursday on reports the government may subsidize mortgage payments for troubled homeowners.

A surprise jump in U.S. retail sales for January also offered a glimmer of hope about the world's largest economy though other data painted a less sanguine picture.

China's markets extended gains of the past two months on hopes that Beijing's $586 billion economic stimulus package will engineer a quick recovery for the country's rapidly slowing economy. The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 3.2% and has gained more than 20% since Nov. 28, the last day of trading for that month.

Chinese central bank figures released Thursday showed bank lending more than doubled in January to a record 1.62 trillion yuan ($237 billion) as lenders heeded government calls to loosen credit controls to help revive the economy.

In Australia, the main stock index rose 1.3% after the government succeeded in pushing a $28 billion economic stimulus package through the Senate following an earlier defeat.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average climbed 74.04 points, or 1%, to end at 7,779.40, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 2.5%.