Asian stocks drive home New Year rally

HONG KONG, (AFP) -Asian stocks mostly crept higher on Friday at the close of a strong week for the major bourses, helped by a firmer dollar and optimism about US jobs data, although Sydney stocks languished.

Tokyo’s Nikkei index edged up 0.11 percent, or 11.28 points, to 10,541.04, its highest close since May 13, while Hong Kong was up 20.99 points by lunch, rounding off a week in which both exchanges have gained about three percent.

Shanghai also perked up after a lacklustre start, with the Composite index gaining 0.26 percent by noon, helped by a three percent jump in SAIC Motor, which reported its vehicle sales jumped nearly a third last year.

However Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 ended down 0.42 percent, or 20.00 points, at 4,705.00, at the end of a week in which coal miners have been hit by disastrous floods and commodity prices slipped. BHP Billiton slumped 1.15 percent on Friday and Rio Tinto was down 1.81 percent.

The general buoyancy around the region has been helped by hopes of recovery in the United States.

Japanese car makers were notable gainers, helped by the stronger dollar against the yen.

US stocks had a mixed day on Thursday ahead of December unemployment estimates from the Labor Department that will be keenly watched for any sign that the so-far jobless recovery might start creating work.

Any knock-on effect from the eurozone’s debt crisis appeared limited.

However Ben Potter, strategist at IG Markets, said expectations of the US December payrolls data might be overblown.

“There could easily be scope to disappoint here, causing potential US dollar weakness; however a strong number will confirm what everyone is seeing and that the US economy is turning around, especially the labour market,” he said.

Meanwhile Shanghai dealers have been caught between expectations of further measures by Beijing to cool the economy, and reports in state media Thursday that Chinese banks may issue more than one trillion yuan ($151 billion) in new loans this month.

“The liquidity conditions will likely improve at the beginning of this year, but it won’t be back to the overly-loosened conditions last year,” Li Xiaoxuan, analyst at Shenyin Wanguo Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.22 percent and the broader S&P 500 index was down 0.21 percent, but the tech-rich Nasdaq gained 0.28 percent.

On Asian oil markets, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, fell three cents to $88.34 per barrel, giving up earlier gains, while Brent North Sea crude for February eased 76 cents to $93.76.

The euro dropped against the greenback, approaching a four-month low when it hit 1.2967 dollars, but recovered to stand at 1.2989 in Tokyo afternoon trade, against 1.3006 dollars in New York late Thursday.

The euro fetched 108.44 yen versus 108.30 yen the previous day. The dollar firmed to 83.48 yen from 83.34 yen.

Gold opened at $1,368.00-$1,369.00 an ounce in Hong Kong, down from Thursday’s close of $1,376.80-$1,377.80, having declined over four consecutive sessions for the first time in 12 months.

In other markets: Seoul rose 0.41 percent, or 8.59 points, to 2,086.20. Taipei fell 1.13 percent, or 100.49 points, to 8,782.72.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 2.11 percent to Tw$72.5, while electronics manufacturer Hon Hai fell 0.44 percent to Tw$114.0. Manila fell 0.35 percent, or 14.73 points to 4,202.52.

Developer Cyber Bay Corp. bucked the trend to rise 24.4 percent to 1.02 pesos but Energy Development Corp. slipped 0.17 percent to 6.03 pesos. Wellington fell 0.26 percent, or 8.77 points, to 3,317.94.