Asian shares rise as risk appetite warms

Reuters: Asian shares rose as risk appetite recovered after European equities and the euro firmed overnight while U.S. financial markets looked set to reopen following their storm-forced shutdown.

Key currencies stayed in recent ranges on Wednesday.

The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3%, off a two-week low hit on Tuesday. At its current level, the index has a marginal monthly gain of 0.2%, after September’s 5.6% rise.

Australian shares rose 0.6%, supported by a rebound in copper prices which boosted miners. South Korean shares climbed 0.7% after the country snapped a three-month run of falls in industrial output in September, a development that raised hopes for a turnaround in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

“The U.S. has been closed two nights but Europe’s been okay so there are no real negatives at this stage,” said Winston Sammut, investment director at Maxim Asset Management in Sydney.

Japan’s Nikkei average climbed 1.4%, bouncing back from profit-taking the day before when the Bank of Japan’s easing steps largely matched expectations.

European shares rose on Tuesday on a slew of shareholder-friendly corporate news including a dividend hike plan from oil major BP (BP.L) as well as plans by Swiss bank UBS to cut 10,000 jobs, while the euro was helped by a slightly less-than-expected contraction in Spanish economy in July-September.

“European markets had a nice bounce yesterday, so markets in Asia have really responded to the strong performance in Europe,” said Guy Stear, head of research with Societe Generale in Hong Kong.

“It’s difficult to say we are really in a ‘risk on’ period because people are really focused on company specific news” rather than macroeconomic news, he said, adding that Asian markets have not yet recovered to highs in mid-October.

Data showed on Wednesday that Taiwan’s economy grew by slightly less than expected in the third quarter, and the Markit/JMMA Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index posted its fastest pace of contraction in 18 months in October.

Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia’s benchmark index eased 0.5% after closing at a record high on Tuesday as strong quarterly earnings from banks helped lift sentiment. Malaysia shares .KLSE steadied after marking a record close for the fourth straight session as investors piled into banking stocks.

Stear said Southeast Asian markets largely benefitted from how investors, worried about China’s growth outlook, were putting money elsewhere in Asia, where they saw better prospects. But Southeast Asian markets look expensive and when worries about China subside, investors may pull money out of them and return to China, he said.

U.S. bond and major U.S. stock exchanges will resume trading on Wednesday, after New York was lashed by Sandy, the worst storm to batter the metro area in 75 years.

The yen came off a one-week high of 79.275 yen against the dollar hit on Tuesday when the BOJ’s latest easing measures spurred players to close their yen short positions. The dollar was last trading 0.1% lower at 79.52 yen.

“Concerns over Japan’s fiscal problems and deteriorating trade balance are behind the current phase of yen weakness and the BOJ easing is just one catalyst,” said Yuji Saito, director of foreign exchange at Credit Agricole in Tokyo.

“So having cleared the post-BOJ positions, the dollar/yen will likely steady ahead of the U.S. jobs data and the U.S. presidential election,” he added.

Saito said dollar/yen resistance was seen at 80.50 to 80.60 yen, a 50% retracement of the 2012 high of 84.187 hit in March and the year’s low of 77.13 touched in September.

The euro inched up 0.1% to $1.2962, but stuck to its $1.2800/$1.3200 range seen since mid-September.



Traders said the single currency was unlikely to break out of that range until fresh news emerged from Europe to provide clear progress in its debt crisis management.

Spain has yet to apply for an external rescue which would initiate the European Central Bank’s bond buying program to ease borrowing strains and global lenders haven’t given Greece another tranche of bailout, although Greek was close to winning parliamentary approval for severe austerity reforms.

Euro zone finance ministers will hold a conference call on Wednesday to discuss progress in negotiations on the revised Greek bailout but are not expected to make any decisions yet, two euro zone officials said on Tuesday.

Oil prices lacked direction, with U.S. crude futures up 0.1% at $85.79 a barrel and Brent down 0.2% at $108.90 as investors waited to assess the impact from Sandy, which paralysed much of the U.S. East Coast region that consumes about one-quarter of the nation’s total fuel.

Asian credit markets firmed along with equities, narrowing the spread on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment-grade index by 5 basis points.