ed Wednesday after Wall Street was buoyed by the new head of the U.S. Federal Reserve vowing a continuation of low interest rates, AP reported. Stronger Chinese trade figures and also boosted markets. Japan's Nikkei 225, the region's main index, gained 0.6 percent to finish at 14,800.06. Japanese markets were closed Tuesday for a national holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1 percent to 22,186.85 by late afternoon, and South Korea's Kospi added 0.2 percent to 1,935.84. Markets in Southeast Asia and India also gained. China's Shanghai Composite Index was 0.3 percent higher after the government reported faster growth in imports and exports for January, easing worries about slowing growth in the world's No. 2 economy. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 1.2 percent to 15,994.77 after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said Tuesday she would continue the central bank's low-interest rate policies. It was the Dow's third triple-digit advance in four days. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 19.91 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,819.75 and the Nasdaq composite rose 42.87 points, or 1 percent, to 4,191.04. Yellen's remarks have worked to calm some of the jitters in global markets recently over concerns about slowing growth in China. Benchmark U.S. crude for March delivery was up 36 cents to $100.32 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell 12 cents to $99.94 on Tuesday. In currency trading, the dollar cost 102.48 yen, down slightly from 102.52 late Tuesday. The euro rose to $1.3642 from $1.3630.
