Asian stock markets rebounded Friday after encouraging economic data from China and Europe raised hopes that a global economic recovery was underway. Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.8 percent to 13,738.82. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1 percent to 5,128.70. South Korea's Kospi added 1.4 percent to 1,874.39. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.6 percent to 22,013.31. Japanese export shares rallied as the yen retreated against the dollar. A weaker yen lowers the cost of goods abroad while increasing the value of repatriated profits. Yamaha Motor Corp. surged 5.3 percent. Toshiba soared 5.5 percent. On Thursday in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average ended a six-day losing streak, while a technical glitch halted trading on the Nasdaq for most of the afternoon. The Dow rose 0.4 percent to 14,963.74. The S&P 500 gained 0.9 percent to 1,656.96. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1 percent to 3,638.71. Benchmark oil for October delivery rose 1 cents to $105.04 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $1.18 to close at $105.03 a barrel on the Nymex on Thursday. In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3338 from $1.3365 late Thursday. The dollar rose to 98.98 yen from 98.72 yen.
