Market Report - Asia Mixed, G20 Dissapoints

Asian shares saw mild bargain-hunting Monday, as hopes of government rescues emerged after a weekend G20 meeting on the financial crisis disappointed.

The yen and U.S. dollar pushed higher after the Group of 20 leaders pledged action but offered no concrete plans to avert a looming global recession.

With risk-aversion the prevailing mood, Japan's Nikkei clawed out gains despite news the world's second-largest economy had slipped into its first recession in seven years.

Many nations are buckling under the worst global conditions since the Great Depression, and some investors read the G20 outcome as leaving it to individual governments to act.

Equity flows to developed markets fell to near record lows last month, making some share prices cheap but with overall fundamentals fragile.

Toyota, the world's top automaker, is expected to slash its global sales forecast for 2009 by at least 7 percent, as the key U.S. market stagnates and Europe already faces recession.

Australian shares hit a 4-year low as banks declined, but Lion Nathan, its second-largest brewer, launched a 5 billion dollar takeover bid for soft drinks group Coca-Cola Amatil.

Elsewhere, airlines rallied on hopes for government assistance and lower energy prices, although travel demand amid the crisis is expected to remain weak.

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• KOSPI
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[joelito101]

Global recession...so who's profiting? All that cash has to be going somewhere, right?