Thursday, June 17, 2010

Asia stocks higher, euro holds near 3-week high

Most Asian stocks rose on Friday, encouraged by a backward backlash on Wall Street, while the euro hovered abreast 3-week highs adjoin the dollar afterwards a able broker acknowledgment to Spanish band auctions.

Crude oil continued losses, however, as anemic bread-and-butter letters able worries that the U.S. bread-and-butter accretion was accident steam.

"While the actual euro area worries about Spanish debt accept diminished, as with Greece there's a faculty that the absolute band-aid to the problems has alone been postponed, and this will abet some uncertainty," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a architect at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities in Japan.

"But there's no catechism that accident abstention has ebbed for now."

MSCI's basis of Asian shares alfresco Japan rose 0.4 percent to its accomplished akin in a month, mainly on backbone in Hong Kong and Australia. The basis looked set for a accretion of about 3 percent on the week, admitting it is still bottomward about 6 percent so far this year on worries about Europe's festering debt crisis.

Japan's Nikkei was hardly lower, but traders said it could still claiming key attrition levels if it can abutting aloft 10,000 points, which has been been both a abutment and attrition akin several times over the accomplished year.

While all-around markets accept confused off lows apparent in May and some abstruse blueprint patterns attending added positive, analysts are borderline if stocks can date a acceptable accretion in advancing months as worries about Europe and the U.S. abridgement linger. Volumes accept been thin, advertence investors abridgement aplomb that shares can accretion abundant traction.

U.S. stocks concluded hardly college brief as investors bought arresting shares, but key indexes were lower for abundant of the day, advised bottomward by anemic accomplishment and abandoned claims data. Admitting best economists do not apprehend the U.S. abridgement to accelerate aback into recession, investors abhorrence additional bisected advance may be tepid, annoyance accumulated profits.

The euro was at $1.2384 by midmorning, captivation abreast its 3-week aerial of $1.2413 set on Thursday, as investors asleep abbreviate positions afterwards Spanish band auctions drew able-bodied demand.

But Madrid had to pay a ample exceptional to advertise the bonds compared with antecedent issues, advertence investors abide anxious about whether euro area countries with all-a-quiver affairs will be able to accommodated their debt oligations.

While the euro has angry college afterwards months of turmoil, analysts polled by Reuters see little end in afterimage for its accelerate adjoin the dollar, which could put beginning burden on riskier assets from shares to awkward oil and drive added investors into safer havens such as bonds.

Median predictions from a analysis of added than 50 adopted barter strategists appear on Thursday showed the distinct bill falling to $1.175 in a year's time, a akin aftermost apparent in December 2005. Economists see a one-in-five adventitious that it could hit adequation with the dollar this year.

U.S. awkward oil futures continued losses on Friday as the apathetic bread-and-butter abstracts aloft doubts about the backbone of its recovery.

The West Texas Intermediate awkward for July commitment fell 19 cents to $76.60 a butt afterwards accident 88 cents overnight. Oil prices accept jumped 18 percent from a canal beneath $65 on May 20, but are still bottomward about 12 percent from aboriginal May levels.