Gains By Japan Auto Firms Boost Asian Markets

January 6, 2009 7:34 a.m. EST

Tokyo, Japan (AHN) - Shares in Asian markets moved higher on Tuesday despite weak sales data in the U.S. for the month of December as the indexes in Japan, Shanghai moved up offsetting the decline in Hong Kong markets.

Investors in the region reacted positively to the domestic markets as the automakers in Japan and South Korea mostly posted higher gains as yen weakened against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday.

Oil futures was trading below to $48-a-barrel mark as a light sweet crude-futures barrel for February delivery moved down by 89 cents at $47.92 a barrel in Singapore's electronic trading on Tuesday.

On Monday, the contract continued the last week's upward trend and advanced by 5 percent to $48.89 a barrel in overnight trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange amid lower gasoline demand in the major economies.

In currency trading, the yen weakened and changed hands at 93.71 yen against U.S. dollar in Asia on Tuesday, after it closed at 93.33 yen late Monday in New York.

The Japanese Nikkei 225 average closed higher by 37.72 points or 0.42 percent at 9,080.84 points; while, the broader Topix index remained unchanged at 876.20 points.

Shares of Toyota Motor, the country's largest car maker, moved higher by 1.3 percent, while Honda Motor Co. added 1.7 percent and Nissan Motor advanced by 2.4 percent.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng finished lower by 53.80 points or 0.35 percent at 15,509.51 points, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, moved down by 0.4 percent to 8,644.51 points.