TOKYO – Asian stock markets advanced Monday, bolstered by improved U.S. retail sales and Europe’s renewed efforts to contain its debt crisis.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average rose 1.5 percent to 8,881.42, hitting a six-week intraday high at one point.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.7 percent to 18,824.07, South Korea’s Kospi was up 1.2 percent at 18,824.07 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.8 percent to 4,282.30.

Sentiment brightened after stronger retail sales data in the U.S., leading to gains on Wall Street before the weekend. The Dow Jones Industrials rose 1.4 percent to close at 11,644.49 on Friday.

Retail sales, which are a key barometer of consumer spending, recorded the biggest gain in seven months in September and double what economists were expecting. The data added to signs that the world’s biggest economy may avoid another recession.

Worries about Europe’s debt problems also eased following a meeting of Group of 20 finance chiefs over the weekend in Paris.

The group opened the door for the International Monetary Fund to play a bigger role in fighting the escalating debt troubles among countries that use the euro common currency. It also said eurozone ministers will “decisively address the current challenges through a comprehensive plan” to be unveiled on Oct. 23.

In currencies, the dollar edged up to 77.24 yen from 77.22 late Friday. The euro fell to $1.3851 from $1.3875.

With the dollar holding above the 77-yen line, investors sent Japanese exporters higher. Sony Corp. surged 4.6 percent, while Toyota Motor Corp. 2.4 percent.

Missing out on the rally was camera and precision instruments maker Olympus Corp., which plunged after firing its British CEO on Friday after just six months.

The issue tumbled more than 22 percent, following a double-digit slide before the weekend. Several ratings agencies issued downgrades, while media reports said Michael Woodford was dismissed after questioning Olympus executives about improper corporate governance and several acquisitions before he arrived.

Benchmark oil for November delivery was up 35 cents at $87.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.57 to settle at $86.80 in New York on Friday.

SINGAPORE (AFP) – The Singapore and Australian stock exchanges on Monday announced a multi-billion dollar merger that will create one of the world’s largest and most diversified financial trading hubs.

Singapore’s SGX offered 8.2 billion US dollars to take over Australia’s ASX to form ASX-SGX Ltd, which will be the world’s fifth largest listed exchange group after Hong Kong, Chicago, Brazil and Germany, bourse officials said.

The two exchanges will keep their respective brands but the merger will combine the strengths of the resource-rich Australian bourse with Singapore’s more international profile and strong links to the booming China market.

A joint statement said the deal would create an expanded platform for global customers to exploit opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region, the driver of the world’s recovery from its worst recession since the 1930s.

The takeover bid, expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2011 subject to regulatory approval, values the ASX at 48 Australian dollars a share, a premium of nearly 40 percent on the last traded price.

Magnus Bocker, the SGX chief executive who will become the CEO of the combined group, said that “in 2020, in less than 10 years from now, nearly half of the global GDP will be in Asia-Pacific.”

“It’s an opportunity that we cannot let go,” he added in a news conference.

In terms of total number of listings, the ASX-SGX will overtake Tokyo to become the second largest listing venue in the Asia-Pacific region after Bombay, offering more than 2,700 companies from over 20 countries including 200 from Greater China, the joint statement said.

The merged bourses will also offer access to the largest institutional investor base outside the United States, with combined assets under management estimated at 2.3 trillion dollars including money from sovereign wealth funds.

“There’s no doubt that this is a landmark combination. We’re trying to act ahead of the curve, be proactive in a world of change quickly,” Bocker said.

The Wall Street Journal said the merger could create a roughly 1.9 trillion US dollar market.

“At the end of the day, this combination is not just about cost synergies. It’s really about strategically making us a much stronger exchange together, and positioning us to grow into Asia,” said Seck Wai Kwong, chief financial officer of SGX.

The deal looks likely to face some regulatory questions in Australia as Singapore’s government is a major shareholder in SGX, but bourse officials did not expect major obstacles.

“I don’t think we would have announced it if we didn’t believe that the approvals would be forthcoming,” said Robert Elstone, managing director and chief executive of ASX.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Graeme Samuel said “I think it’s a matter between the Singapore exchange and the Australian exchange and I can’t see that raising competition issues for us”, according to public broadcaster ABC.

The announcement comes as the ASX is about to lose its long-held monopoly in Australia after the government gave the green light for rival share exchanges to set up.

Former ASX chairman Maurice Newman said the Australian government should not be concerned as the deal is driven purely by commercial interests.

“They have opportunities to draw in more play from Asia, from China specifically,” he told ABC.

SGX chairman-elect Chew Choon Seng will likely become the non-executive chairman of the merged entity, while ASX chairman David Gonski is expected to become deputy chairman.

The combined group will have 1,100 employees and an international board with 15 directors from five countries.

DUBAI (AFP) –
Dubai‘s two stock markets on Sunday started to trade on a single platform in a bid to consolidate the markets.

Nasdaq Dubai announced that all trading in its listed equities is now being done through the platform of the larger Dubai Financial Market (DFM), in a statement.

“The move, under preparation since December 2009, is part of a consolidation between the two exchanges,” it said.

“This new structure brings together more than half a million individual investors on DFM with Nasdaq Dubai?s institutional investors, many of them based outside the region,” said Jeff Singer, chief executive of Nasdaq Dubai.

DFM, Dubai’s main exchange, acquired two-thirds of Nasdaq Dubai in May, the statement said. DFM had placed a 121-million-dollar offer in December to buy the exchange.

Nasdaq Dubai will remain a separate exchange regulated to international standards by Dubai Financial Services Authority, while DFM is regulated by the Securities and Commodities Authority of the United Arab Emirates.

The most traded equity on Nasdaq Dubai is DP World, the port operator which is mostly owned by Dubai’s troubled Dubai World group.