Foreign buyers tempted back

ASIAN stocks rose today amid more signals that the region's industrial economies are on the road to recovery. Wall Street's overnight weakness was ignored as foreign buyers moved into the markets of

The Bank of Japan upgraded its assessment for the third month running. The Japan Centre for Economic Research predicts a 2.2% quarter-on-quarter growth in the first three months of the year, which translates into a strong 9% annual increase. Forecasts that Japan's gross domestic product will grow strongly this year were bolstered by a 0.6% year-on-year rise in the All Industries index in April. This was the latest in a spate of economic indicators that has inspired a sharp revision in growth forecasts from economists and foreign analysts.

Banks were the biggest gainers from a strong internal recovery, which should ease their bad debt burdens. Shares in the sector soared, led by industry giant Mizuho Holdings which rose almost 5%.

South Korean stocks were bounding ahead on better economic prospects. The country's GDP surged 1.8% in the first quarter, its best rate of expansion in 18 months. The central bank today also forecast that full year GDP would rise by 5.7%, beating most analysts' forecasts, and the Kospi index responded with a gain of 15.89 points to 853.45.

Hong Kong stocks ended ahead as property counters recovered from a downgrading of their credit ratings by Standard & Poor's on Tuesday. Big developers hit back at the agency's view that persistent deflation and weaker property prices were undermining their financial position. The Hang Seng index up 41.9 points at 11795.2.

Taiwan stocks came back to life as investors searched for bargains after recent sharp falls, and the Weighted Average index rallied 76.86 points to 5520.04. Domestic-driven companies led the way, transport stocks surging on reports of further thawing of relations with mainland China which could boost direct trading links.

While Singapore's Straits Times index slipped 0.7 points to 1729.8 on Wall Street's weakness, NatSteel continued to grab attention on plans to offload an electronics operation, and the shares rose almost 2% for a two-day gain of more than 20%.

Australian investors seeking safety snapped up bank and gold shares, which pulled the All Ordinaries index up 57.4 points to 3386. The rise in the bullion price to two-year highs lifted smaller gold mining stocks, but among heavyweight resource counters, BHP Billiton slipped back as crude oil prices eased.

Trading in Malaysia was flat ahead of first quarter GDP figures expected today and the Kuala Lumpur Composite index fell 9.94 points to 771.78. Indonesian stocks also edged lower, the Jakarta Composite index down 4.23 points at 521.10, while in thin trading, Thailand's SET was static at 385.64.

Prices and indices in this section are supplied from various sources and calculated at different times and may not always match those listed in the tables.