Ripples from the U.S. mortgage market's troubles were felt across Asia. But the news from Asia is positive, as some markets have made a tentative recovery.
After a dismal finish last week, Asia's markets crept up Monday. Japan's Nikkei ended up 0.2 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also put on almost 0.4 percent, and Korea's Kospi finished up 1.1 percent. But Tai Hui from Standard Chartered in Hong Kong says it's too early to relax.
"For the time being the Asian markets are going through a technical rebound. But we do believe we have not yet seen the end to the subprime concerns," Tai said.
"There could still be more news of funds losing significant amounts of money or some banks having technical issues in the near term, so Asian markets are not yet out of the woods."
Today the Bank of Japan injected another $5 billion into the banking system to calm fears of a credit squeeze. Meanwhile, the extent of Asian exposure to the dodgy subprime market is beginning to emerge.
A survey by UBS estimates Japan's large banks could have invested as much as $8 billion in the troubled sector, while South Korea said its exposure totals around $850 million. But some caution other indirect exposure us yet to emerge.
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