Manila - Philippine share prices rose 4.47 per cent on Wednesday as investors snapped up bargain stocks following overnight gains in Wall Street.

The 30-share composite index of the Philippine Stock Exchange added 76.23 points to close at 1,780.64 from Tuesday's finish of 1,704.41.

A total of 1.158 billion shares worth 2.319 billion pesos (47.32 million dollars) were traded.

Gainers led losers 87 to 27, while 41 issues were unchanged.

Wellington - The New Zealand stock market rose 2.2 per cent on Wednesday after a roller-coaster day in which strong gains in morning trading were checked later.

The benchmark NZX-50 index rose nearly 4 per cent in the first 15 minutes of trading, apparently fired by news of dramatic gains on Wall Street which produced the second biggest rise on record.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong stocks continued their rebound Wednesday after a volatile two days which saw the Hang Seng's Index record its biggest loss and gain in more than 10 years.

The blue-chip index gained 248 points or almost 2 per cent in the first 15 minutes of trading Wednesday rising to 12,844 points.

The rebound began Tuesday when bargain hunters pushed the index up by 14.35 per cent, its biggest rally in more than 10 years.

Taipei - Taiwan stocks opened higher Wednesday after Tuesday's big Wall Street rally.

After the Taipei stock market opened at 9 am, the benchmark TAIEX quickly surged as much as 7 per cent higher. One hour into trading, TAIEX eased to 4,536.17, still up 136.2 points, or 3.1 per cent, from Tuesday's closing figure.

Analysts attributed the TAIEX surge to Tuesday's rally on Wall Street.

Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysia's share market dropped 3.1 per cent Tuesday on panic selling by investors concerned over a dismal global economic outlook, said dealers.

Singapore  - An afternoon buying spree Tuesday brought some relief to Singapore's battered Straits Times Index, which nosedived in the first hour of trading.

The index made a turnaround, gaining 66.21 points, or 4.41 per cent, to close at 1,666.49.

The index had dropped to a low of 1,475.86 within the first hour of trading to start the week on a bearish note after being closed Monday for a holiday.

A total of 1,490.5 million shares were traded on the Singapore Exchange with 364 stocks recording losses and 205 managing gains.