Asian market review 25/01/2008

Asian markets rallied again today extending their rebound for 3 days in a row after South Korea's economy expanded faster than estimated and the US moved closer to approving tax rebates. MSCI Asia Pacific index climbed 4.4% to 145.59, set for the steepest gain since March 2002. Japan's Nikkei 225 added 4.1% to 13629.16 and the futures rose to 13675 in Singapore at 2.30 PM. JPY fell from 2.5 year high to 107.67 recently. Gold prices also rose to $920ish and crude oil traded at $90ish per barrel.
South Korea's Kospi opened higher today at 215.95 and it didn't move much after the economy showed that it expanded faster than expected from its export to regional countries such as China. Kospi moved relatively flat today going down from its open to 214ish before breaking high near the end of trading at 216.75 and closed the day at 214.80. Kospi moved between 214.05-216.75.
Hangseng opened more than 1000 points higher and it continued its rally, trying to regain its losses in the past week. It opened at 24812 and quickly rally up to 24900ish before retracing down a bit to 24600ish and go back up again to 24900ish. It continued its volatility, retracing back to 24484 before going back up and closed the 1st session at 24837. 2nd session, we see Hangseng opened at 25015, breaking its initial day high and it rally up to 25286 and it played between 24800ish to 25200ish before closed at 25082. Volatility in the market was very high, with moves ranging between 200-400 pts each time and Hangseng was set to be the biggest gainer in the region for this week. Hangseng moved between: 24484-25286.