Asian markets mostly rebounded Monday, recovering tentatively from a worldwide plunge triggered last week by fears that U.S. problems with subprime mortgages could spread to the global banking and financial system, according to AP. The Nikkei 225 _ the benchmark for the Tokyo Stock Exchange _ rose 0.2 percent to 16,800.05, recouping some of Friday's drop as investors bought back into stocks with strong earnings. Monday's gains were limited, with most investors waiting to see the U.S. markets later in the day, said Yutaka Miura, manager at Shinko Securities. «This was mainly a technical rebound from Friday,» he said. The Bank of Japan injected 600 billion yen (US$5 billion; ¤3.66 billion) into money markets Monday to try to bring more stability to the markets. On Friday, the Bank of Japan had injected 1 trillion yen (US$8.39 billion; ¤6.15 billion) to curb rises in a key overnight interest rate. U.S., European and Australian central banks as well poured funds into money markets last week as stocks dropped on concerns over U.S. mortgages. And Monday, the European Central Bank said it was injecting cash again into the banking system in a bid to soothe rattled credit markets. Winners in Tokyo included machinery makers Komatsu Ltd., up 3.0, and NSK Ltd., up 5.01 percent. Honda Motor Co. added 0.5 percent, and electronics giant Toshiba Corp. rose 2.63 percent. Toyota Motor Corp. fell 0.28 percent, and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. fell 0.46 percent. Mizuho Financial Group fell 0.28 percent. In Hong Kong, meanwhile, the blue chip Hang Seng Index rose 0.45 percent to 21,891.10. Analysts there said shares are likely to trade in a tight range in the near term, though, as worries over defaults on U.S. subprime mortgages still overhang the market. «Aftershocks of the U.S. subprime mortgage woes are likely to continue rippling through markets in the Asia-Pacific region,» said Peter Lai, director of DBS Vickers Securities Ltd. Strong corporate earnings reports will provide support to the local market, analysts said, with China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd. kicking off the earnings season Thursday.
