Asian markets close day in positive territory

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) – Following positive figures from Asian countries, such as Chinese industrial production and Japan’s additional budget developments, Asian stock markets closed Thursday positive.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, earned 9.93 points, or 0.26%, to close at around 3,762 points.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange soared by 606.6 points, or 2.13%, to 29,066. The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, gained 54.74 points, or 0.23%, to reach 23,475.

China's Shanghai stock exchange rose by 27.39 points, or 0.75%, to 3,675 points, and the Indian Sensex benchmark increased by 72.74 points, or 0.13%, to close at 57,860 points.

The Singapore index also earned 13.92 points, or 0.45%, to reach 3,128.

- European markets

Major European indices also posted positive figures as of midday.

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, was up by 5.42 points, or 1.15%, to reach 476.18 points as of 0941GMT.

London's FTSE 100 increased by 65.18 points, or 0.91%, to reach 7,235 points, and Germany's DAX index reached 15,704 points, up by 228.5 points or 1.48%.

The French CAC 40 gained 74.85 points, or 1.08%, to reach 7,002 points, while Italy's FTSE MIB posted an increase of 171.76 points, or 0.64%, to reach 26,837 points.

Spain's IBEX 35 also rose by 98.3 points, or 1.19%, to 8,373 points.