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Associated PressTOKYO - Asian stock markets soared Monday morning after Washington announced a bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , a move that could help bolster a shaky U.S. housing market and renew investor confidence in stock and credit markets worldwide.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index was up more than 430 points, or 3.6 percent, at 12,650.27.
Seoul's Kospi index was up 4.4 percent, Singapore's Straits Times Index jumped 3.6 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 4.6 percent.
The U.S. Treasury's decision Sunday to place the two companies, which own or guarantee about half of U.S. mortgage debt, into a conservatorship removes a big cloud that had been weighing on global markets.
The news injected life into recently listless Japanese banks, with Mizuho Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group both up more than 11 percent in trading Monday morning.
Nomura Holdings, Inc. jumped 9.1 percent following weekend reports that Japan's largest brokerage group is considering buying a stake in U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers. Nomura has funds exceeding $1.87 billion for investment in U.S. and European financial institutions and is considering Lehman as one of its investment candidates, Nomura President Kenichi Watanabe was quoted as saying by the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri.
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