Tokyo - Japan's key Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose more than 2 per cent Wednesday on the overnight rebound in the US market.

The Nikkei index rose 287.24 points, or 2.22 per cent, to 13,201.9.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 22.22 points, or 1.78 per cent, to 1,269.93.

The Tokyo market sentiment was boosted in morning trading after the US Federal Reserve's assessment that US economic activity expanded in the second quarter helped an overnight rise on Wall Street.

New York - US stocks posted strong gains on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged and the price of oil continued a steady decline from last month's record highs.

The Fed said it was keeping its benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at 2 per cent as the US central bank navigates the twin dangers of sluggish growth and high inflation.

Hong Kong - On-going financial woes related to the US sub-prime mortgage crisis which have put pressure on several Hong Kong banks dragged the benchmark Hang Seng index down 2.51 per cent to fall below 22,000 points Tuesday.

The index fell 565 points to close at 21,949.75 points.

Turnover was 63.99 billion Hong Kong dollars (8.2 billion US dollars).

Bank of East Asia, the territory's fifth biggest lender, closed 8.28 per cent down at 33.20 Hong Kong dollars after it reported a worse-than-expected 52.4 per cent drop in net profit for the first-half.

The Sensex, which recovered smartly after a sharp decline from upper levels, trading positively on account of good buying action witnessed in select blue chip stocks.

At 1:26 pm, the Sensex gained 71.07 points at 14,648.94 over its previous closing mark, while the broad-based NSE Nifty stood at 4413.55, up 17.20 points.

The major gainers in the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra (4.5%), ACC (3.15%), HDFC Bank (3.8%), ICICI Bank (2.6%), State Bank of India (2.4%) and Hindustan Unilever (2%).

Indian stock markets ended that day negatively amid volatility. Heavy buying activity was seen in FMCG, metal, healthcare stocks, whereas oil, power and consumer goods stocks went down.

The 30-share index Sensex, on Monday (August 4), opened with a negative gap of 62.05 points at 14,594.64 the back of profit booking. After few minutes, Sensex moved into the positive terrain to trade on a flat note.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap index closed after gaining 1.77% each.

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks opened modestly higher Tuesday as investors bought export-oriented issues on the US dollar's advance against the yen.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 34.85 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 12,968.03.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was slightly up 0.84 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 1,249.09.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 108.18-23 yen, up from Monday's 5 pm quote of 107.79-80 yen. A weaker yen makes Japanese products cheaper abroad.