Asian markets rise after China announces $586b stimulus plan

Beijing: Asian markets rose sharply on Monday, a day after China announced a $586 billion stimulus package against the global financial crisis.

Stocks surged in Japan, China and Hong Kong, where the bench mark index was up 4.8 per cent on Monday.

China's Shanghai Composite Index surged 7.3 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 5.8 per cent.

China's stimulus package is seen as the biggest move to inoculate the world's fourth-largest economy against the global financial crisis.

Economic growth slowed to 9 per cent in the third quarter, the lowest level in five years and a sharp decline from last year's 11.9 per cent.

Its billion-dollar fund will go into housing, infrastructure and post-earthquake reconstruction in China over the next two years.

The statement did not say how much of the spending is on new projects and how much is for ventures already in the pipeline that will be speeded up.