Asian stocks went up across the board on Wednesday morning; Japanese car battery makers and Australian miners saw particularly strong speculative demand.  Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.4%, to end Wednesday morning at 14,405.77, while the broader Topix gained 0.1%, to 1,403.99.  Investors flocked to Japanese car battery makers on Wednesday. This followed the recent release by various auto companies, notably a partnership between Mitsubishi Motor (other-otc: MMTOF - news - people ) and Peugeot (other-otc: PEUGY - news - people ), of plans to design and build an electric car amid growing concerns over persistently high oil prices and global warming. (See: "Electrifying Rumor For Mitsubishi Motors, Peugeot") Shares of GS Yuasa (other-otc: GYUAF - news - people ), Japan's largest car battery maker, climbed 7.4%, to 568 yen ($5.26), while Furukawa Battery Co. jumped 12.6%, to 1,350 yen ($12.51).  Shares of Skymark Airlines rose 4.2%, to 200 yen ($1.85), after the company's president revealed that the company may soon resolve its pilot shortage problem, saying its services would return to normal by late August. The airline cut its annual profit forecast last week as a result of the cancellation of hundreds of flights.  NEC Electronics (other-otc: NELTY - news - people ) surged 14.2%, to 2,935 yen ($27.20), after Goldman Sachs raised its rating to "buy," from "neutral," citing the prospect of the firm's earnings beating market forecasts on growth in sales of advanced microchips used in TV sets and mobile handsets. On the down side, although the dollar stood firm at 107.91 yen on Wednesday morning, little changed from its level in late U.S. trading on Tuesday, Japanese exporters failed to recover ground lost early in the session. Canon (nyse: CAJ - news - people ) fell 0.5%, to 5,510 yen ($51.06), and Honda Motor (nyse: HMC - news - people ) slid 0.3%, to 3,770 yen ($34.93).  In Sydney, Australian miners led the way forward, benefiting from a rise in gold and base metals prices. The S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.2%, to 5,435.70, while the All Ordinaries index was higher by 11.3 points, or 0.3%, at 5,542.20.  Leading mining group BHP Billiton (nyse: BBL - news - people ) advanced 0.7%, to 45.27 Australian dollars ($42.71), while the rival it is aiming to take over, Rio Tinto (nyse: RTP - news - people ), added 1.5%, to 139.01 Australian dollars ($131.12). Gold miner Newcrest Mining (other-otc: NCMGY - news - people ) rose 1.4%, to 28.39 Australian dollars ($26.78), while Lihir Gold (nasdaq: LIHR - news - people ) escalated by 2.3%, to 3.05 Australian dollars ($2.88), after the price of gold moved above $884 an ounce.  In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index bounded up by 1.3%, to 23,350.51 points, at midday, tracking at about half-speed the Shanghai Composite index, which surged 2.7%, to 2,870.29.  Oil stocks in Hong Kong took off on news that Beijing will lift price controls on refined oil products. The H-shares of China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) (nyse: SNP - news - people ) gained 5.7%, to 8.16 Hong Kong dollars ($1.05), while PetroChina (nyse: PTR - news - people ) rose 2.9%, to 10.16 Hong Kong dollars ($1.30).  Elsewhere in the region, South Korea's KOSPI index increased by 0.8%, to 1,764.22, while the Straits Times index in Singapore saw a 0.4% gain, to 3,040.24, at midday.  -- Reuters and Thomson Financial contributed to this article.
Plans by automakers for electric vehicles juice shares of GS Yuasa and Furukawa Battery; higher metals prices boost Australian miners; Shanghai looks to break long losing streak.