Asia Stocks: Bargains Spark Comeback
Asian markets staged a comeback Tuesday as value investors snapped up beaten-down stocks across the region. The Hang Seng Index rebounded from a three-week slide, gaining 305.56, or 1.4%, to close at 22.921.67.
Investors also bid up shares in hopes that China's National People's Congress (NPC), which meets next month will include some tax-relief initiatives to boast consumer spending. Investors are speculating that. John Tsang, financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, will announce around US$5 billion in tax relief when he delivers his budget speech on Feb. 27. China's benchmark stock index, the Shanghai Index, was closed again on Tuesday for the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. The index is set to open on Wednesday for regular trading.
PetroChina
(PTR) - Get Report
helped lead the way for Chinese ADRs on the American exchanges. Deutsche Bank recently made some bullish comments on PetroChina and
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical
(SHI) - Get Report
. The firm encouraged investors to buy PetroChina shares because the analysts believe the stock is attractive after falling 48% since mid-October. PetroChina finished Tuesday up $3.32, or 2.3%, and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical closed up 30 cents, or 0.7%.
Also hot were shares of
Melco PBL Entertainment
(MPEL)
, which traded up 4% Tuesday. Investors were speculating that
Wynn Resorts
(WYNN) - Get Report
, which reported earnings after the market close, would post strong numbers out of Macau. Melco PBL Entertainment is a pure play on casino gaming and entertainment resorts in Macau.
WuXi PharmaTech
(WX)
traded up 4% on news United Overseas Bank Ltd took a 12.9% stake in the research development outsourcing firm.
On the downside, Chinese alternative energy stocks saw profit-taking after Monday's strong showing.
Suntech Power Holdings
(STP)
fell 7%,
Trina Solar
(TSL)
fell 6%, and
China Sunergy
(CSUN)
fell 5.5%.
Baidu.com
(BIDU) - Get Report
also traded down $1.28 on heavy volume ahead of the search giant's earnings report, scheduled for Wednesday evening.
Be sure to check out the
every night at Stockpickr.com to find out which stocks in India and China are making big moves and announcing major news.
India Recap
The Indian stock market saw increased volatility Tuesday with the Sensitive Index opening up 182 points before closing down 22.90 to 16,812.63. India's benchmark index has now fallen 11% over the past five trading sessions. India reported that its industrial output grew by only 7.6% in December, way below last year's 13.4%, due to higher interest rates and a strong rupee. The slowing output motivated India's Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram to ask state-run banks to increase the amount of loans for homes and consumer goods.
Some leading Indian ADRs trading in America on Tuesday were the state-run banks. Names like
HDFC Bank
(HDB) - Get Report
traded up 4% and
ICICI Bank
(IBN) - Get Report
rose 3%. Investors bid up shares of IBN after India's largest bank measured by market value said it held talks with some foreign banks to buy its 20 billion rupee personal loan portfolio.
Infosys
(INFY) - Get Report
also traded up 1.5% after receiving a positive rating from Gartner for its Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) subsidiary.
On the downside,
WNS Holdings
(WNS) - Get Report
fell 3% after the offshore business outsourcing firm said it was taking steps toward becoming a carbon-neutral firm. Another notable decliner was
Videsh Sanchar Nigam
(VSL) - Get Report
, which fell 4%.
Be sure to check out the
every night at Stockpickr.com to find out which stocks in India and China are making big moves and announcing major news.
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