Asian Markets and ETFs Up Across the Board

Asia-Pacific stocks and ETFs that track them are trading higher according to Barchart almost across the board on some optimism following Tuesday's US rally: Japan +1.49%, Hong Kong +3.24%, China +2.75%, Taiwan +1.86%, Australia +1.78%, Singapore +0.54%, South Korea +0.76%, Bombay +0.11%.

Bullish factors in Asia included a 2.8% rally in BHP Billiton (BHP) on higher commodity prices and strength in gas and oil companies with the rally in crude oil prices to a new record high. London-based Standard Chartered Bank, which derives two-thirds of its revenue from Asia, rallied to a 3-week high on a favorable earnings report. And Industrial & C ommercial Bank of China rallied 3.4% after JPMorgan recommended China's largest bank as the "safest exposure to the sector."

In other Asian news, Thailand’s Election Commission on Tuesday found a ­ruling party politician guilty of vote-buying in last year’s general election, dealing a blow to political allies of Thaksin Shinawatra.

High inflation in Vietnam has led to the State Bank of Vietnam, the central bank, trying to drain liquidity from the financial system to hold down the value of the dong against the dollar. The central bank has pulled back its purchases of dollars leading to overnight inter-bank rates for the currency have reached as high as 40 per cent recently.