ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

By STEPHEN WRIGHT / AP WRITER / BANGKOK | Asian markets rallied on Monday as Chinese officials weighed new measures to bolster growth and President-elect Barack Obama pledged the US will spend its way out of a recession.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index vaulted 1,040.57 points, or 7.5 percent, to 14,886.66, while Japan's Nikkei 225 average jumped 364.1 points, or 4.6 percent, to 8,281.61. South Korea's Kospi surged 6.9 percent to 1,099.13.

Like their counterparts in the US on Friday, Asian investors brushed off news that American employers cut 533,000 jobs in November—the most in 34 years—including 32,000 in the financial-services sector. Instead, investors took heart from signs the world's largest economies are redoubling efforts to revive economic growth.

Chinese officials are meeting this week to decide new measures to support the US $586 billion of stimulus already planned while a bailout of ailing US automakers appeared to be falling into place and Obama pledged an economic stimulus plan "large enough to get the economy moving."

India's government said on Sunday it plans to spend an additional $4 billion to boost the nation's slowing economy, an announcement that came on the heels of the central bank slashing key interest rates by 1 percentage point. Mumbai's Sensex index was up 3.1 percent.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite index was up 3 percent at 2,078.

"People are expecting some good news from the Chinese government meeting and that is causing a strong rebound," said Castor Pang, an analyst at Sun Hung Kai Financial in Hong Kong.

"The market has already factored in the bad news from the [US] employment numbers and it seems the US auto sector plan has a high probability of passing and that has also helped improve sentiment," Pang said.

Australia's benchmark index was up more than 4 percent, led by the nation's biggest retailers advanced as 8.7 billion Australian dollars of government handouts began to flow into the bank accounts of pensioners and low-income families.

Supermarket chain Woolworths was up 3.7 percent and appliance retailer Harvey Norman gained 3 percent. Banks also rallied with Commonwealth Bank of Australia surging 7.6 percent.

Wall Street climbed off its lows to end higher on Friday. The Dow Jones industrials rose 3.1 percent to 8,635.42 and the S&P500 gained 3.7 percent to 876.07. Futures pointed to further gains, with Dow futures up 131 points, or 1.5 percent, at 8,743 and S&P futures up 15.5 points, or 1.8 percent, at 887.90.

In Washington, House and Senate aides were hammering out legislation that would dole out billions to Detroit's Big Three automakers within a week, but yank back the money if a government-run board and overseer decided the companies weren't taking steps to overhaul themselves and become viable.

Japanese automakers gained, with Honda Motor Co up 4.8 percent, Nissan Motor Co. 1.3 percent higher and Toyota Motor Corp up 1.1 percent. South Korean Hyundai Motor Co rose 4.7 percent.

Financial stocks—recently a barometer of the turbulence in global markets—also advanced. Japan's biggest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rose 2.1 percent. In Hong Kong, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China gained 4.2 percent.

Thailand's key index advanced 2.7 percent, taking a cue from gains around the region and also lifted by signs the business-friendly opposition Democrat Party will have the numbers to form a coalition government in the aftermath of Thailand's ruling party being dissolved for vote buying.

"We are up on improved sentiment," said Andrew Yates, senior vice president of international equities sales at Asia Plus Securities in Bangkok.

"It was such a bad US jobs number that the markets think the world economy can now get better. The Democrats fielding the next Thai prime minister is also thought to be good for business," he said.

Oil prices bounced off four-year lows to above $42 a barrel on Monday in Asia after OPEC's president suggested the group could surprise investors with a large production cut later this month.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery was up $2.01 to $42.82 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore. The contract fell on Friday nearly $3 to settle at $40.81, levels last seen in December 2004.

Bourses in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia were closed for public holidays.