Asian shares mostly up, Tokyo at fresh 15-year high

Asian markets largely rose on Thursday and Tokyo hit a fresh 15-year high, driven by dip buying after the previous day's fall, while energy shares gained on higher oil prices.

The Nikkei 225 index added 1.08 percent, or 200.59 points, to 18,785.79 while the Topix index of all first-section issues gained 0.93 percent, or 14.06 points, to 1,521.68.

South Korean shares closed 0.13 percent higher, recovering from morning losses, with the benchmark KOSPI gaining 2.61 points to 1,993.08.

Moving against the regional trend, Sydney dropped 36.41 points, or 0.61 percent, to finish at 5908.5, snapping three straight days of gains.

Hong Kong added 0.5 percent, or 123.78 points to close on a one-month high of 24,902.06, led by gains in energy shares, while Shanghai jumped 2.15 percent on expectations of more monetary easing in China.

Expectations have been building that Chinese authorities will announce more monetary easing ahead of the annual meeting of the National People's Congress, the country's legislature, next week.

"The market was boosted by expectations of more monetary policy easing, ahead of the meeting," Northeast Securities analyst Shen Zhengyang told AFP.

"Investors are usually quite enthusiastic before the Congress."

The Shanghai Composite Index added 69.52 points to close at 3,298.36 on turnover of 334.3 billion yuan ($54.5 billion).

The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, rose 1.03 percent, or 16.41 points, to 1,614.71 on turnover of 252.7 billion yuan.

The meeting will set China's annual economic growth target, and has been used in the past as a platform to launch economic reforms.

"There's chatter about more stimulus," said Yen Chiu, a Hong Kong-based trader at Shenwan Hongyuan Group Co, Bloomberg News reported. "China is a policy-driven market."

- Japanese stocks 'overbought' -

Profit-taking snapped the Nikkei's five-day winning streak on Wednesday after the benchmark index reached levels not seen since the turn of the century.

"Japanese stocks have been overbought in the short term, and there's a lack of catalysts, so chasing prices higher will be difficult," said Mitsushige Akino, an executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management.

"On the other hand, it's difficult to sell when there's expectations of further excess liquidity," with central banks globally maintaining easy monetary policies, he said.

The dollar made up lost ground against the yen after falling when US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen hinted the central bank was in no hurry to raise rates.

The dollar fetched 118.95 yen, up from 118.86 yen in New York.

Markets have been rife with speculation over when this year the US central bank will start raising interest rates.

In a second day of testimony to the US Congress, Yellen provided no fresh clues on the timing of the rate increase, but again signalled that the Fed was in no rush.

After rebounding sharply Wednesday, oil prices fell in Asian trade but losses were curtailed as dealers focused on positive elements of a mixed US energy stockpiles report.

The latest official report by the Department of Energy showed stockpiles of gasoline and distillates falling, indicating rising demand, even as stocks of crude oil surged.

West Texas Intermediate for April eased 43 cents to $50.56 while Brent crude for April tumbled 31 cents to $61.32 in afternoon trade.

Gold fetched $1,219.27 an ounce against $1,209.81 late Wednesday.

In other markets:

-- Philippine closed 1.02 percent lower, losing 79.67 points to end at 7,764.39.

Top-traded Universal Robina dropped 1.49 percent to 211.40 pesos. SM Investments fell 1.91 percent to 900.00 pesos, while BDO Unibank eased 0.88 percent to 113.00 pesos.

-- Taipei fell 77.44 points, or 0.80 percent, to 9,622.1.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co shed 2.59 percent to Tw$150.5, while Hon Hai Precision Industry was 0.93 percent higher at Tw$87.1.

-- Wellington closed up 0.33 percent, gaining 19.392 points to 5861.684.

Xero Limited added 8.70 percent to $25.00, while Intueri Education Group Limited fell 10 percent to $2.59.

-- Kuala Lumpur gained 5.01 points, or 0.28 percent, to close at 1,820.87.

Genting Malaysia went up 0.74 percent to 4.11 ringgit, AMMB Holdings rose 0.16 percent to 6.37 while Sime Darby dropped 1.37 percent to 9.37 ringgit.

-- Singapore closed down 0.43 percent, or 14.65 points, at 3,426.18.

United Overseas Bank (UOB) declined 0.26 percent to Sg$22.99 while oil rig maker Keppel Corp rose 0.34 percent to Sg$8.77.

-- Jakarta ended up 0.12 percent, or 6.31 points, at 5,451.42.

Mobile provider Indosat gained 1.73 percent to 4,105 rupiah, while auto maker Astra International slipped 1.23 percent to 8,050 rupiah.

-- Mumbai fell 0.90 percent, or 261.34 points, to end at 28,746.65 rupees.

Bharat Heavy Electricals fell 3.47 percent to 264.55 rupees, while utility major National Thermal Power Corporation rose 4.90 percent to 153.15 rupees.

-- Bangkok closed up 0.27 percent, or 4.22 points, to 1,593.55.

Airports of Thailand rose 3.29 percent to 314.00 baht, while telecoms company True Corporation added 3.50 percent to 14.80 baht.

-- Bloomberg News contributed to this article --

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