* Asian shares post first gain in six sessions
* Mood still cautious; some government debt gains
* Oil up more than $1 a barrel on Saudi output cut
* Euro recovers from recent falls; ECB still in focus
By Rafael Nam
HONG KONG, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Asian shares recovered on
Wednesday from a steep five-day sell-off, though the mood
remained cautious given nagging worries about the economy and
earnings, while oil rose on Saudi Arabia's plans to cut output.
Regional bonds, seen as safer bets in volatile times,
gained in a sign of the risk apprehension. The euro recovered
after hitting a one-month low against the dollar on Tuesday,
but gains were limited ahead of an expected interest rate cut
by the European Central Bank on Thursday. []
Weak economic data and a bleak outlook for quarterly
earnings results has hampered what had been a promising start
to the year, though the continued flood of new corporate bond
sales globally at least points to investors' willingness to
take on risk.
"We know the outlook is awful, but then we know that the
market has priced in a very bleak scenario. So you've got this
tug-of-war that occurs between the bad news and the deep
valuation (discount)," said Lee Mickelburough, a partner at
Perennial Growth Management in Australia.
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> advanced 1.5 percent as of 0215 GMT, rebounding
from a 9 percent loss over the previous five sessions.
The index remains down more than 3 percent for the year.
Concerns about the global economy remain. Data on Tuesday
showed U.S. imports fell a record 12 percent in November, a bad
omen for export-dependent Asian companies that rely on U.S.
consumers to power earnings. []
Corporate earnings are being hit across the world,
resulting in job cuts that are spreading from the financial
sector to manufacturers such as truck maker Volvo <VOLVb.ST>,
which announced layoffs on Tuesday. []
Still, Asian shares posted gains on Wednesday, as some
investors viewed recent steep declines in shares such as Sony
Corp <6758.T> as overdone.
The Nikkei average <> advanced 0.8 percent, recovering
from its nearly 5 percent drop on Tuesday.
Shares in Hong Kong <> and Singapore <.FTSTI> advanced
more than 1 percent, while indexes in South Korea <>,
Australia <>, Shanghai <> and Taiwan <> posted
more modest gains.
NO CERTAINTY
U.S. crude oil futures <CLc1> rose $1.19 to $38.97 a barrel
as cold weather in the United States pushed up heating oil
demand and on comments by OPEC member Saudi Arabia that it had
made deep production cuts. []
Oil producers have agreed to cut output to stem a slide in
crude, which has fallen sharply since hitting a record high
just under $150 a barrel in July. Oil prices, however, have
started the year in range-bound trade.
Encouraged by falling inflation, central banks are cutting
interest rates, and policy makers are implementing big stimulus
plans to resuscitate economic growth.
The European Central Bank meets on Thursday. It is expected
to cut interest rates by 50 basis points from the current 2.5
percent, which remains at a higher level than the near-zero
rates in the United States and Japan.
The euro rose 0.6 percent to $1.3264 <EUR=> from late New
York trade, after hitting a one-month low of $1.3140 on trading
platform EBS in U.S. trading.
Against the yen, the single currency gained 0.6 percent to
118.70 yen <EURJPY=R>. It had fallen as low as 117.13 yen on
EBS in U.S. trading, the lowest since early December.
The lack of certainty is being reflected by the continued
gains in government debt despite yields at their lowest in
years.
Australian three-year bond futures <YTTc1> added 0.025
points to 96.870, near an all-time high of 96.88. Aussie
10-year bond futures contract <YTCc1> rose 0.010 points to
96.050, off a record high of 96.065.
Still there are also signs that investors are willing to
add risk in the hunt for higher yield, as evidenced by the
surge in global corporate debt issuance this month, both from
government-backed lenders and non-financial firms.
European credit markets were on track to set a record for
supply in January, with more than 14 billion euros worth of
non-financial euro-denominated investment-grade bonds sold.
That approaches the record 25 billion euros raised in January
2003. []
