Asian financial markets are trading higher Wednesday on news that prominent U.S. investor Warren Buffett is investing heavily in a major Wall Street firm.
Markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul and Sydney all showed modest gains.
Buffett, one of the richest men in the United States, announced Tuesday that his Berkshire Hathaway investment firm would buy $5 billion of shares in Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs. The investment is a major boost for an institution battered by the current meltdown of the U.S financial sector.
The U.S. Federal Reserve announced earlier Wednesday that it is pumping another $30 billion into the global financial system, in a coordinated action with central banks in Australia, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
The Bush administration's proposed $700 billion plan to bailout the sector is facing strong opposition in the U.S. Congress.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged members of the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday to quickly approve the rescue package. But the Democratic chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Senator Chris Dodd called the plan "unacceptable" in its current form.
The committee's top Republican Richard Shelby said the plan needs close examination so it does not result in a waste of the taxpayers' money.
The emergency legislation would allow the government to buy devalued assets from troubled financial firms. The bad investments have made banks reluctant to lend money, and the lack of credit threatens to stall the economy.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
