Traders swear by the US oath-takers

THE sight of America's business leaders queuing up with hands on hearts to declare that their companies' accounts were a true and fair view inspired Asian investors today. A 3% surge on Wall Street and a 5% jump on Nasdaq prompted strong gains around the region although the top markets did not quite match New York's pace.

Even the yen's renewed strength against the dollar failed to halt stocks in Tokyo, where the Nikkei 225 Average added 157.16 to 9795.57. With few significant backsliders apparent from the list of corporate chiefs who swore the oath of honesty, Asian investors reckoned the risk of future accounting shocks appeared to have been removed from Wall Street's long-term performance.

Hong Kong stocks crammed on more than 2.5% to lead the region's gain in morning trade, and the Hang Seng index broke through the analysts' technical resistance level of 10,200, with a gain of 275.64 points to 10,236.99. Much of the strength came from a 2% gain to HK$89.50 in the shares of HSBC Holdings, which recently produced half-year earnings above forecasts.

The Federal Reserve's warning of weakness in the US economy was shrugged off by Hong Kong's leading export-based enterprises, with garments distributor Li & Fung adding more than 1% ahead of half-year profits figures today. Investors will be watching for evidence that surging mainland China exports this year will boost profits.

Hong Kong property stocks, which have been badly hit by fears of a price war in an oversupplied market also attracted bargain hunters and scored gains of up to 2.5%.

Nasdaq's surge lifted technology stocks in Tokyo, although turnover was little more than a trickle as most traders are on their annual holidays. Chipmaking equipment giant Advantest led gains with a rise of almost 5% while Sony added more than 1% and copiers-to-cameras giant Canon, put on almost 2.5%.

Taiwan's technology counters led the Weighted Average up 83.67 points to 4971.10 although bargain-hunting trimmed the best of the morning's rises. Reports of strong demand for Sony's PlayStation 2 generated a 3% gain in the shares of Hon Hai Precision, which supplies the Japanese giant with consoles. Taiwan Semiconductor, the world's largest supplier of bespoke memory chips, responded to the Nasdaq's rise with a near-3% climb.

Singapore's suppliers of hardware and software to US PC makers were also in demand, and took the Straits Times index up 14.14 to 1541.17.

Massive write-offs on its Gemstar operations in the US had already been factored into the price of News Corp shares, and forecasts by Rupert Murdoch that earnings would rise 30% this year lifted the counter almost 4% in Sydney. With resources stocks continuing to rally, the All Ordinaries index added 29.9 points to 3076.3. Financial stocks were also climbing with insurance giant AMP up almost 3% as it recovered from recent heavy losses following the downgrading of its credit rating.

Thai investors drew inspiration from Wall Street, and the SET index gained 3.27 to 374.46. In Kuala Lumpur, the Composite index was 4.67 better at 734.66. The Jakarta Composite drifted back 2.01 to

445.67. South Korea's markets were closed for a holiday.

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.