Indian stocks surged on Tuesday as investors shrugged off two bomb blasts in the financial capital Bombay on Monday, which killed at least 48 people.
Analysts said traders were looking beyond the violence to focus on the country's positive economic fundamentals. The rupee currency also gained against the dollar after a 0.15 percent fall on Monday in the wake of the explosions.
Elsewhere, Japanese shares surged in late trade to finish the day about 0.5 percent up but most other markets fell, tracking losses on Wall Street. The dollar was firm against both the yen and the euro.
The Bombay Sensitive Index was up 2.08 percent at 2:20 a.m. EDT. It closed 2.92 percent down on Monday after the blasts rocked a bullion market and the landmark Gateway of India, but has risen almost 42 percent since April.
"Yesterday's incident was magnified because South Bombay is a major media market and the seat of power," said Bombay Stock Exchange broker Ramesh Damani. "Terrorism is a global threat and incidents such as these have become fairly routine. Markets are resilient and are likely to be in a trading zone now."
Tokyo shares finished 0.54 percent up, boosted by a surge in brokerages including Nomura Holdings and Nikko Cordial Corp, and in companies like Nippon Steel after the yen retreated from a one-month high against the dollar.
"Regardless of movements of large-cap issues, money keeps flowing into laggards in the domestic sector, such as steel and heavy machinery makers," said Kenichi Azuma, equity strategist at Cosmo Securities.
The Dow fell 0.33 percent on Monday, and with few local factors to trade on, Asian markets followed suit. Markets in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and Korea were all down.
Taiwan shares closed 2.26 percent down, retreating from over 14-month highs after local tech shares were pressured by losses in U.S. counterparts.
EURO PLUMBS LOWS
The euro plumbed four-month lows against the dollar and five-month lows against the yen, weighed down by expectations that Europe would lag the already recovering U.S. and Japanese economies.
But the yen, the main beneficiary of the euro's recent weakness, pulled back after rising briefly early in the day, shying away from Monday's one-month highs against the dollar on wariness of possible intervention by Japanese authorities.
"At these levels, people have to be worried about intervention and the market gets a little jumpy," said Hiroyuki Watanabe, a manager at Shinsei Bank.
"I think the decline in dollar/yen has pretty much run its course, given it had been driven by euro/yen selling and the U.S. economic outlook is strong. But the weakness in the yen crosses, particularly against the euro, may continue for a while."
The euro fell to five-month lows around 126.75 yen down about three-quarters of a yen from late Monday levels, before recouping some of the losses. At 2 a.m. EDT, it was trading at 127.56/58 yen.
The dollar was trading at 117.50 yen after testing the 117 area. The euro also hit four-month lows against the dollar around $1.08
Crude prices were slightly higher after profit-taking on last week's gasoline-led rally. Front-month October crude was at $31.60 a barrel at 4:07 a.m. EDT, up four cents from Monday's settlement in New York, where the contract lost 28 cents.
Gold prices were flat, watching the dollar for direction after a long liquidation in New York canceled a brief safe-haven rally on the Bombay bombings.
Spot gold was fetching $361.05/55 an ounce at 0610 GMT against $361.00/50 last quoted in New York.
Analysts said traders were looking beyond the violence to focus on the country's positive economic fundamentals. The rupee currency also gained against the dollar after a 0.15 percent fall on Monday in the wake of the explosions.
Elsewhere, Japanese shares surged in late trade to finish the day about 0.5 percent up but most other markets fell, tracking losses on Wall Street. The dollar was firm against both the yen and the euro.
The Bombay Sensitive Index was up 2.08 percent at 2:20 a.m. EDT. It closed 2.92 percent down on Monday after the blasts rocked a bullion market and the landmark Gateway of India, but has risen almost 42 percent since April.
"Yesterday's incident was magnified because South Bombay is a major media market and the seat of power," said Bombay Stock Exchange broker Ramesh Damani. "Terrorism is a global threat and incidents such as these have become fairly routine. Markets are resilient and are likely to be in a trading zone now."
Tokyo shares finished 0.54 percent up, boosted by a surge in brokerages including Nomura Holdings and Nikko Cordial Corp, and in companies like Nippon Steel after the yen retreated from a one-month high against the dollar.
"Regardless of movements of large-cap issues, money keeps flowing into laggards in the domestic sector, such as steel and heavy machinery makers," said Kenichi Azuma, equity strategist at Cosmo Securities.
The Dow fell 0.33 percent on Monday, and with few local factors to trade on, Asian markets followed suit. Markets in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and Korea were all down.
Taiwan shares closed 2.26 percent down, retreating from over 14-month highs after local tech shares were pressured by losses in U.S. counterparts.
EURO PLUMBS LOWS
The euro plumbed four-month lows against the dollar and five-month lows against the yen, weighed down by expectations that Europe would lag the already recovering U.S. and Japanese economies.
But the yen, the main beneficiary of the euro's recent weakness, pulled back after rising briefly early in the day, shying away from Monday's one-month highs against the dollar on wariness of possible intervention by Japanese authorities.
"At these levels, people have to be worried about intervention and the market gets a little jumpy," said Hiroyuki Watanabe, a manager at Shinsei Bank.
"I think the decline in dollar/yen has pretty much run its course, given it had been driven by euro/yen selling and the U.S. economic outlook is strong. But the weakness in the yen crosses, particularly against the euro, may continue for a while."
The euro fell to five-month lows around 126.75 yen down about three-quarters of a yen from late Monday levels, before recouping some of the losses. At 2 a.m. EDT, it was trading at 127.56/58 yen.
The dollar was trading at 117.50 yen after testing the 117 area. The euro also hit four-month lows against the dollar around $1.08
Crude prices were slightly higher after profit-taking on last week's gasoline-led rally. Front-month October crude was at $31.60 a barrel at 4:07 a.m. EDT, up four cents from Monday's settlement in New York, where the contract lost 28 cents.
Gold prices were flat, watching the dollar for direction after a long liquidation in New York canceled a brief safe-haven rally on the Bombay bombings.
Spot gold was fetching $361.05/55 an ounce at 0610 GMT against $361.00/50 last quoted in New York.
3287.99
1275.09