asian stocks up for second day on us gr

Hong Kong: Tokyo shares led Asian stock markets higher on Friday after a surprising US economic growth report buoyed investors following a prolonged rout driven by concerns over China’s economy.The dollar gained and oil prices rose on the back of the US growth report, but concerns over Japanese inflation figures tempered sentiment.Tokyo stocks gained 2.49 percent in early trading, while Hong Kong was up 1.00 percent and Shanghai gained 1.65 percent.Sydney was also 0.53 percent higher, while Seoul gained 1.38 percent.The gains in Asia followed a second straight day of advances on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 2.27 percent, the broad-based S&P 500 rising 2.43 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq adding 2.45 percent.They were boosted by a US economic growth report that showed the world’s biggest economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.7 percent in the second quarter, sharply higher than the initial appraisal of a 2.3 percent gain.”Fear for the global economy had been one reason behind the recent falls, so the unexpected strength in the US, the fact that their GDP has managed to grow this much, is positive,” said Nobuyuki Fujimoto, a Tokyo-based senior market analyst at SBI Securities Co.The gains come as a relief to investors who at one point saw $8 trillion wiped off global markets in a rout led by fears over the outlook for China.Oil prices also extended gains after surging 10 percent in the previous session on the back of the US data.US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery gained 83 cents to $43.39 while Brent crude for October rose 45 cents to $48.01.And on currency markets, the dollar was at or near one-week highs against the euro and the yen.In Tokyo trading, the dollar bought 121.14 yen, up from 121.02 in New York and 119.98 on Wednesday.It was also at $1.1250 against the euro, down from $1.1239 in New York but still stronger than Wednesday’s value of $1.1312.The euro bought 136.30 yen, against 136.03 yen in US trading.Gains from upbeat releases in the US were tempered by data in Japan that showed that inflation in the Asian powerhouse fell back to zero in July while household spending dropped for a second straight month.Gold, which is seen as a safe haven in times of stock market turmoil, traded at $1,129.61, up from $1,125.00.