Tokyo Nikkei 225 up 3.64%, S&P ASX 200 up 1.34% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Tokyo , 16 Aug - Asian shares closed higher, extending a recent rebound and rising for the week as they tracked gains on Wall Street overnight after US strong retail sales data fuelled hopes that concerns over a recession in the world's biggest economy were overblown.

Japanese shares led the gains in Asian dealings, with the Nikkei rallying more than 8% for the week as investors hunted for bargains after Tokyo shares entered bear market last week.

Stronger-than-expected Japanese gross domestic product data for the second quarter released this week helped support sentiment.

The Nikkei index closed up 3.64% at 38,062 points. In Sydney the S&P ASX 200 closed up 1.34% at 7,971 points, while in Seoul the KOSPI closed up 2.00% at 2,697 points.

The Shanghai Composite index was down 0.08% at 2,874 points and the Hong Kong Hang Seng index was up 1.78% at 17,411 points. In Mumbai the Sensex index rose 0.97% to 79,871 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 16-08-24 09:11:02 (0142) 5 NNNN