Markets in Asia rose on Thursday in response to a stronger performance by stocks on markets in the United States on Wednesday, which were buoyed by companies reporting stronger earnings.

Although markets in the U.S. had experienced fairly sharp declines on Tuesday, with a sell-off in equities sparked by fears about rising bond yields, both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished in positive territory on Wednesday.

Markets had responded to the fact that Facebook reported earnings that beat market expectations, despite the recent privacy data scandal affecting the firm. Boeing also reported higher-than-expected profits, while media firm Comcast's shares jumped 2.7 percent when it confirmed it would counter 21st Century Fox's bid for United Kingdom-based satellite TV network Sky.

The turnaround in U.S. markets fed into Asia on Thursday, with MSCI's broadest index of Asian shares outside Japan gaining 0.35 percent, and Korea's KOPSI gaining 1.2 percent after Samsung Electronics revealed a record quarterly profit. Japan's Nikkei also climbed by 0.7 percent.

Both U.S. and Asian markets had reacted negatively earlier in the week to the fact that 10-year U.S. treasury yields had risen above 3 percent, causing concern that higher interest rates could lead to lower profits, but the sell-off this week was more measured than in February, when markets were last hit by a sell-off sparked by rising interest rate fears.

Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management in Tokyo, told Reuters: “The equity markets slid sharply in January and March in response to the rise in Treasury yields. But the Federal Reserve signalled in March that its rate hikes would be gradual.

“Expectations towards U.S. rate hikes being gradual are enabling equities to take the current yield rise in stride,” Ichikawa added.

Middle East markets
In the Middle East, the Saudi market faced a further sell-off after hitting a two-year high earlier this week. The Tadawul All-Share Index declined by 1 percent on Wednesday to 8,233.05, with Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC), the market's biggest stock, declining by 0.9 percent to 121.20 Saudi riyals per share. Other petrochemicals stocks followed suit, with Advanced Petrochemicals falling by 2.5 percent to 50.90 riyals, and Petro Rabigh falling by 2.4 percent to 30.25 riyals.

Bahrain's index also fell by 1 percent, weighed down by sell-offs in shares of banking and investment companies. Oman's MSM 30 index dropped by 0.45 percent as the value of several industrial stocks fell, and Dubai's index fell by 0.3 percent as several companies witnessed negative investor pressure.

Drake & Scull continued its recent slide after it was revealed earlier this week that the cash-strapped company may issue a further 500 million dirhams ($136 million) worth of shares or a convertible bond worth up to one billion dirhams to improve its financial position less than a year after Tabarak Investment secured a majority stake in the company through its 500 million dirham cash injection. Drake & Scull's shares fell by 9.4 percent to 1.38 fils in trading on Wednesday.

Similarly, Marka, which earlier this month announced plans to reduce its share capital to wipe out losses, saw a further sell-off in its shares on Wednesday, declining by 8.6 percent to just 26 fils per share. Its shares have more than halved in value since the start of the year.

DXB Entertainments, the operator of the Dubai Parks and Resorts theme park which has struggled to attract enough visitors to be profitable, also saw its shares drop by 8.4 percent to 38 fils per share. Its shares have fallen by about 40 percent since the start of this year.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Index also declined in value yesterday, finishing 0.4 percent lower at 4,671.03.

The region's other markets finished in positive territory, though, with Kuwait's main index gaining 0.6 percent to 4,822.63 points and Qatar's index gaining 0.2 percent to 9,109.64.

Currencies and metals
In currencies, the dollar strengthened against a basket of main currencies, on the back of higher yields, plus an affirmation by ratings agency Moody's that the U.S. had maintained its top-notch, AAA credit rating, with a stable outlook. The dollar's index against six major currencies stood at 91.163, close to a four-month high of 91.261 achieved on Wednesday.

Against the Japanese yen it stood at 109.36 and had climbed as high as 109.49, which was its highest rate since February 8.

The higher dollar weighed on precious metals prices, with spot gold contracts hovering near five-week lows at $1,321.71 per ounce.

Oil prices
Concerns over the potential imposition of new sanctions by the U.S. on Iran, as well as declining production in Venezuela, where producer Chevron pulled out executives on Wednesday after two of its workers were arrested following a dispute with state-owned oil firm PDVSA, meant prices continued to rise.

Brent crude oil futures stood at 74.42 per barrel at 01.35 GMT, which was an increase of 0.6 percent on their previous close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 0.5 percent to $68.38 per barrel.

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