Asian stocks rebound after Wall Street falls on Ukraine tensions

Asian stock markets have rebounded after Wall Street slid amid anxiety over President Vladimir Putin’s authorization to send Russian soldiers into eastern Ukraine

Asian stock markets rebounded on February 23 after Wall Street slid on anxiety over President Vladimir Putin's authorisation to send Russian soldiers into eastern Ukraine.

Shanghai, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia advanced. Oil prices edged higher on concern about possible disruption to Russian supplies. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.

Global stock prices sank Tuesday as traders tried to figure out the impact of Russia's moves and sanctions imposed by Washington, Britain and the 27-nation European Union on its banks, officials and business leaders.

“Current U. S. sanctions on Russia are less-than-feared by the market,” said Anderson Alves of ActivTrades in a report. Mr. Alves noted American officials have more “acute options” including reducing Russia’s access to the SWIFT system for global bank transactions.

Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index lost 1% on Tuesday. That puts it 10.3% below its January 3 all-time high and into a correction, or a decline of at least 10% but less than 20%.

On Wednesday, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6% to 3,476.15 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.7% to 23,682.90.

The Kospi in Seoul advanced 0.5% to 2,720.20 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 added 0.5% to 7,196.40.