Asian markets climbed Tuesday following news of JPMorgan's raised bid for Bear Stearns . Expectations for a recovery in U.S. credit markets cheered investors. Hong Kong stocks jumped over 6 percent and Japan finished over 2 percent higher.
Financial stocks across the region including, Citibank's Japan listing, South Korea's Hana Financial, Australia's Babcock & Brown, and Hong Kong's Bank of China jumped on news of JPMorgan's sweetened offer for Bear Stearns, which signaled there was more value in financial assets than previously thought. JPMorgan lifted its all-stock offer for Bear Stearns to about $10 a share from $2.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 3.7 percent, led up by financial firms such as Macquarie Group. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which said it will book a pre-tax gain of about A$355 million (US$323 million) from the float of credit card firm Visa, added 8 percent. Mining firms such as BHP Billiton also recovered after suffering hefty losses in the previous session, providing an added lift to the market.