HONG KONG: Asian stock markets rebounded from a five-year low on Friday as a variety of rumors such as China cutting interest rates later in the day prompted investors to cover short positions before the weekend. The recovery in stocks pushed the yen down from a 13-year peak hit against the pound, knocked safe-haven government bonds lower and helped oil prices edge up from an early slide. Traders also cited talk that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates in an emergency move later in the day or global central banks could conduct another round of joint interest rate cuts in the face of renewed market volatility. "Lots of rumors are flying around," said Markus Amman, director of global FX sales at HVB in Hong Kong. The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan climbed 3.3% having slid 3.2% earlier in the day to the lowest since October 2003. South Korea's KOSPI led gains with a rise of almost 6% while Japan's Nikkei added nearly 3%. |
Published on 
Tags:
