Market Report – Asia Follows Dow Up

Asian shares rallied on Thursday after the Dow’s climb through the 10,000 mark, as investors bought regional exporters on U.S. economic optimism.

Japanese automakers like Honda gained, pushing the benchmark Nikkei higher. It comes despite an overall tumble in U.S. car sales in September as the „cash for clunkers“ program ended.

Mitsubishi UFJ gained, following U.S. financial firms. Banks around the region gained as well.

Japanese steelmakers rose on a Nikkei newspaper report that China will curb its lending to the nation’s steel sector, potentially trimming supply.

South Korea’s steelmaker POSCO also gained after it reported solid quarterly results and a bullish outlook.

The weak U.S. dollar helped to boost metals prices to an 11-month peak, with Chinese copper demand jumping over 20 percent last month despite higher prices.

And the greenback fell to a 14-month low against a basket of currencies, while oil continued its march to new 2009 highs, nearing $76 a barrel.

(NTDTV)