Asian markets opened sharply higher in the morning session on Monday as optimism grows over recovery in the U.S. economy.Data on Friday showed consumer confidence had recovered.Hang Seng Index rose 2.95 precent,up 457.78 points to 15,978.80.Shanghai Composite Index up 2.05 percent up 50.85 points to 2,528.42 .Straits Times Index was up 2.34 percent 46.43 points to 1,966.71.Korean benchmark index KOSPI opened at 1,386 and is currently up 20.22 points, 1.48 percent higher at 1,389.58.Shares of banking, steel and shipbuilding firms are trading higher.Hyundai Motor are trading higher by 2 percent.Hyundai Steel is up with a sharp gain of 4.5 percent.In Banking,Korea Exchange Bank is up 4.6 percent,Woori Finance up by 9 percent.Japanese markets are closed for the Golden Week holidays.

Investors are waiting for the release of the U.S. government's bank stress tests, which was due on Monday but now will be released on Thursday.Nymex crude oil futures were up 20 cents on Globex at $53.40 a barrel.

On Friday, the 30-stock Dow Jones industrial average rose by 44.29 points, up 0.54 percent, to 8,212.41. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 4.71 points, up 0.54 percent, to 877.52. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 1.90 points, up 0.11 percent, to 1,719.20.

Monday,04 May 2009