London, England -- (SBWire) -- 05/06/2011 -- City Index (http://www.cityindex.co.uk/) takes a look at the activity shaping the spread betting markets on 28th April 2011.

Asian shares enjoyed a broadly upbeat and steady gain today on the back of positive leads from Wall Street overnight. Most Asian markets were trading higher today after the US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he is not ready to move (to increase) on the interest rate at any time soon.

Bernanke’s statements boosted global stock markets overall, while driving the US dollar further down against other major currencies.

Hong Kong and mainland China shares saw across the board advances led by China Coal Energy Co and Ping An Insurance Group. Local property shares were also higher as the Hang Seng Index was trading up 121 points at midday trading.

In Japan, shares were trading strongly and the Nikkei Index was up more than 1.10 per cent at midday. The positive performance came despite the government reporting some negative economic data which showed the impact of the March earthquake and tsunami. Industrial production was down more than 15 per cent in March, which is the worst production number on record for Japan.

In Australia, the Aussie dollar breezed through the 1.0900 level against the US greenback during the Asian trading session. With the US Fed signalling a move (interest rate hike) at any time in the near future, the Aussie dollar seems unstoppable at this level, with many market analysts and observers predicting it could reach 1.1200 within the year.

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