Asian stocks rise after Fed promise

Asian stock markets jumped today following a surge on Wall Street triggered by a Federal Reserve pledge to keep interest rates super low for the next two years to help the ailing US economy.

Oil prices rose to near $82 a barrel, while the dollar slid against the yen and the euro.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished yesterday with a 429-point gain after the Fed said it would keep its key interest rate at a record low of nearly zero through the middle of 2013.

The index dived 634.76 points the day before after Standard and Poor’s cut the US government’s credit rating, sending shock waves through global markets.

The US central bank also said it discussed “the range of policy tools” it can use to spur the economy.

Still, analysts warned investors to brace for more sharp swings in markets amid a dearth of signs of improvement in the global economy.

“There is a lot of fear and uncertainty in the market, and negatives will add to that. So if we see an increase in unemployment from the US, that is going to cause an increase in volatility,” said Samuel LeCornu, portfolio manager at Macquarie Funds Group in Hong Kong.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 1.3% to 9,057.84 following a 7.6% loss in the last three days.

Export shares, however, continued to struggle because of the strong yen, which hurts the country’s export-driven economy by reducing the value of foreign earnings.

Honda Motor lost 1.5% and rival Toyota Motor was down 0.4%. Consumer electronics giant Sony fell 2%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 3.3% to 19,963.60. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 2.6%. Indexes in Taiwan, the Philippines and mainland China were also higher.

South Korea’s Kospi, which at one point yesterday plummeted nearly 10%, gained 1.3% to 1,823.85. Samsung Electronics, the top global manufacturer of flat screen televisions, memory chips and liquid crystal displays, gained 0.7%.

Gains in Asia were broad-based, with banking shares among the key movers. Australia’s Westpac Banking was 5.1% higher and National Australia Bank gained 5.7%.

Bank of China rose 3.7%. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world’s biggest bank by market value, gained 2.6%.