Asia Shares Close On A Positive Note

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Asia Shares Close On A Positive Note

Asian shares rose Tuesday, following the overnight trend on Wall Street where failed Qatar talks didn’t appear to affect investor appetite for stocks. The gain of Asian shares appeared to have been helped by the workers’ strike in Kuwait that affected the production of crude oil.

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Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 598.49 points or 3.7% to 169874.44. The index fell 3.4% in Monday’s trading, a steep fall that was attributed to the earthquake that recently hit Japan and the failed attempts to curb global oil supply glut at a meeting over the weekend in Doha, Qatar.

In China, the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.3% to 3042.31.  In South Korea, the Kospi rose 0.1% to 2011.36. The gain in Kospi was also helped by the move by the Korean central bank to keep interest rates unchanged just as was widely expected. The index that tracks Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.8%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 ticked up more than 1% to 5188.81.

European markets open on a positive note

European shares opened higher on Tuesday, apparently taking a cue from their Asian counterparts and Wall Street. The anticipated release of German economic sentiment also appeared to have a role in Europe’s positive opening. But analysts predicted a mixed ending for European shares.

In Europe, the strike in Kuwait that is said to have affected nearly 50% of the country’s oil production appeared to lift investor sentiment. The strike also contributed a much needed rebound in crude oil prices after a steep slump on Monday after talks among oil producers broke down. Saudi Arabia failed to commit to a production cut unless Iran was going to do the same.

The U.S. crude oil gained 1% to $40.18 a barrel and Brent crude added roughly 0.8% to trade at roughly $43.26.

Currency market

The USD/JPY (JPYUSD) pair edged up 0.1% to 108.95 and EUR/JPY also rose 0.3% to 123.48. The AUD/USD (AUDUSD) edged up 0.5% to 0.7791, recouping the previous session’s loss that saw the pair skids to 0.7594.