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Upbeat in Asia; Ping An, Santos and Honda rise South Korea, Hong Kong shares ride sudden wave of investor optimism By Chris Oliver, MarketWatch Last update: 2:17 a.m. EST Dec. 8, 2008 HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Asian stocks jumped Monday, with investors heartened by signs that governments will roll out more stimulus measures to ward off an economic collapse. Drugmakers were among standouts in Tokyo while energy group Santos Ltd. led gains in the commodity sector in Sydney on reports it may be the target of a takeover attempt. President-elect Barack Obama "has been making some strong statements about the...

Japan's Nikkei up 2.5 pct as exporters, banks gain Reuters - Thursday, March 20TOKYO, March 19 - Japan's Nikkei share average rose 2.5 percent on Wednesday as investors snapped up exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp after a big interest rate cut in the U.S. helped ease concerns over demand in a key market for Japanese products. Rises in bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and other financial shares also drove the market higher as investors took some relief from earnings results by Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers , which came in above forecasts. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co jumped 3.7 percent to...