Oil pushes higher, stock markets sluggish in Asia

HONG KONG, (AFP) - Oil prices pushed higher in Asia on Thursday as a Japanese minister fretted about the effects of Middle East unrest, while stock markets were mostly underwhelmed by a strong session on Wall Street.

Japan’s economy minister voiced disquiet about oil supplies to his energy-poor country after violent clashes in Middle Eastern countries from Bahrain to Libya, with tensions also heightened following moves by Iran to send naval ships into the Mediterranean.

"Stability in the Middle East has important implications for Japan because the region is a big supplier of crude, which is a lifeline for our economy," economy minister Kaoru Yosano said at a regular press conference, quoted by Dow Jones Newswires.

Brent North Sea crude for April delivery rose two cents to $102.61 in Asian trade, while New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, gained a cent to $86.37.

Asian stock markets had a mixed start.

Tokyo and Sydney’s stock exchanges were both flat in early trading and Shanghai’s Composite index was down 0.47 percent, but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.48 percent.

Tokyo took a breather as a strong yen muted sentiment towards the country’s exporters, after four straight sessions of gains for the Nikkei.

However Masayoshi Yano, a senior market analyst at Meiwa Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires: "The overall trend continues to be foreign investor buying" of Japan stocks.

In Sydney, banking stocks pulled back after pushing higher on a series of strong corporate results.

In Shanghai, sentiment was muted as the state-run China Securities Journal cited several unnamed analysts as saying the central bank may hike the reserve requirement ratio for banks in a further effort to cool the economy.

"Investors are inclined to stay on the sidelines as they fret over the potential for more tightening over the weekend, so some stocks, like cement producers, are succumbing to profit-taking after recent sharp rises," Zhang Gang, an analyst at Central China Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

However the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was lifted by upbeat expectations for banking giant HSBC’s full-year results, due out on February 28.

HSBC stocks have risen more than seven percent in the month so far.

In New York, markets came close to two-year highs after a report from the Philadelphia branch of the Federal Reserve indicated a surge in industrial activity in that region.

The Philadelphia branch said its index of general business conditions had jumped to a seven-year high. That helped offset data showing a rise in new weekly jobless claims in the United States and a surge in consumer prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.24 percent, while the broader S&P 500 rose 0.31 percent and the tech-oriented Nasdaq Composite gained 0.21 percent.

On Asian currency markets the dollar was at 83.34 yen in early trade, nearly flat from 83.30 in New York Thursday. The euro fetched $1.3598, just off its $1.3605 level in New York.

The euro was also flat at 113.32 yen.

Gold opened at $1,383.50-$1,384.50 an ounce in Hong Kong, up from Thursday’s close of $1,379.00-$1,380.00.