Asian stocks rebound as investors look past Paris attacks; Tokyo up on stimulus prospects

SEOUL, South Korea – Asian stock markets bounced back on Tuesday as investors looked past the last week's attacks in Paris. Tokyo stocks rose on expectations for further stimulus measures by Japan's central bank.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.6 percent to 19,706.45 and South Korea's Kospi rose 1.3 percent to 1,968.26. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index advanced 1.9 percent to 22,426.20 while Shanghai Composite index in mainland China rose 1.5 percent to 3,661.71. Stocks in Australia, Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries also rose.

PARIS: Investors restored calm after sell-offs during the first trading session following the terrorist attacks in Paris that left 129 people killed and more than 350 injured. The negative impact of the terrorist attacks on the financial markets is likely to fade over the next week after initial drops, even though the emotional impact may stay on, said Bernard Aw, a market strategist at IG in Singapore. In the past major terrorist attacks across the world, markets had recovered to the levels before the attacks.

JAPAN: Analysts said there were higher expectations that Bank of Japan would roll out stimulus measures after latest data showed that the world's third-largest economy slipped into a recession. Japan's economy declined 0.8 percent in the third quarter over a year earlier, marking a second quarterly contraction. Mizuho Bank said in a daily commentary that a policy response is "more urgent" and that the prospects of more easing pressured the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar.

WALL STREET: U.S. stocks rallied on Monday, snapping a three-day losing streak. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 237.77 points, or 1.4 percent, to 17,483.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 30.15 points, or 1.5 percent, to 2,053.19. The Nasdaq composite added 56.73 points, or 1.2 percent, to 4,984.62.

OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude oil lost 1 cent at $41.73 per barrel in New York. The contract climbed $1, or 2.5 percent, to close at $41.74 a barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils was flat at $44.56 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 123.36 yen from 123.28 yen and the euro fell to $1.0666 from $1.0686.