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Asia shares higher on Wall St boost

Hong Kong - Asian stock markets rose modestly on Wednesday after a $6.3bn banking deal sent Wall Street to new two-year highs.

Trading was subdued ahead of Christmas holidays later this week, with most indexes fluctuating in a tight range.

"I think a holiday mood is there and I don't expect market turnover will increase a lot," said Linus Yip, chief strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average was up less than 0.1% at 10 374.26.

Trading houses benefited from a report in the Nikkei financial daily saying Japanese trading companies plan to boost investments in Chinese startups. Mitsui & Co rose 1.4%, and Mitsubishi added 1.1%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.6% to 23 143.15, South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.1% to 2 038.91, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.1% at 4 776.80.

Benchmarks in Taiwan, New Zealand and Singapore also advanced, while the Shanghai Composite index fell slightly.

Among big movers, Sanyo Electric shed 4.4% and Panasonic Electric Works tumbled 4.3% in Tokyo. Investors sold after Panasonic announced details of a share swap plan to make both companies wholly-owned subsidiaries. Panasonic said it would offer 0.115 of its own shares for one Sanyo share and 0.925 Panasonic share for one Panasonic Electric Works share.

In Hong Kong, Sinopec rose 3.3% after Chinese authorities said late on Tuesday that state-controlled gasoline and diesel prices would be hiked by about 4 percent after international crude oil prices jumped in recent weeks due to higher demand.

The state-owned company, also known as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, is Asia's biggest oil refiner by volume.

In Seoul, technology blue chips advanced, with Samsung Electronics up 1.2% and rival LG Electronics gaining 0.4%.

In New York on Tuesday, a big banking deal raised hopes that more acquisitions could be on the way. Toronto-Dominion Bank said it is buying Chrysler Financial, the carmaker's old lending arm, from Cerberus Capital Management LP for $6.3bn.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 55.03, to close at 11 533.16 - the highest level since August 29, 2008.

The broader S&P 500 index rose 7.52, to close at 1 254.60, while the Nasdaq composite rose 18.05, to 2 667.61.

In currencies, the dollar fell to ¥83.74 from ¥83.79 late on Tuesday. The euro rose to $1.3128 from $1.3101 late on Tuesday.

Benchmark oil for February delivery rose 23c to $90.05 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 45c to settle at $89.82 on Tuesday.

Japanese financial markets will be closed on Thursday for the emperor's birthday, a national holiday.

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