* Asian shares up 2 pct on hopes for government actions
* Oil rebounds more than $1 to above $43 a barrel
* Safer-haven assets such as yen fall
By Rafael Nam
HONG KONG, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Asian stocks hit a one-month
high on Wednesday on hopes for government-led help for key
sectors such as technology, which encouraged risk-taking to the
detriment of assets perceived as safer, such as the yen.
Oil rebounded more than $1 a barrel to above $43, after
slumping nearly 4 percent on Tuesday, though expectations that
slow global demand for commodities will pressure prices
remains.
U.S. stock futures <SPc1> meanwhile edged higher after
officials said the White House and congressional Democrats
reached an agreement in principal on a proposal for bailing out
U.S. automakers. []
The advances in riskier assets came despite broader signs
of caution elsewhere, with investors on Tuesday sending yields
in U.S. Treasury bills to zero as they look to safeguard their
money before the end of the year.
"What we are seeing right now may be a gradual turnaround
in global stocks as liquidity in financial markets is seen
slowly improving, helped by the latest moves by governments,"
said Jun Ji-won, a market analyst at Kiwoom.Com Securities in
Seoul.
"Stabilisation in foreign exchange is also helping."
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose 2 percent as of 0215 GMT, after earlier
hitting its highest level since Nov. 12. Japan's Nikkei average
<> gained 1.1 percent.
The Asia-Pacific index is now up more than 20 percent since
hitting a five-year low on Nov. 21, but remains down more than
half for the year.
Shares in Hynix Semiconductor <000660.KS> rose sharply on
expectations of an imminent $560 million in funding from
shareholders, which analysts said would help keep the chip
maker afloat for a while []
In Taiwan, struggling ProMOS <5387.TWO>, the smallest of
the local three DRAM memory chip makers, was said to have
applied to the government for assistance, sending shares up 6.5
percent. []
Main indexes in South Korea <>, Taiwan <> and
Hong Kong <> rose more than 2 percent each, with smaller
gains seen in Australia <>, Singapore <.FTSTI> and
Shanghai <>.
DEGREE OF CAUTION
The gains in stocks helped pushed down the yen against the
dollar and the euro. The Japanese currency has strengthened
this year as investors, shunning most types of risk, unwound
trades that had used the low-yielding yen.
The euro climbed 0.3 percent from late U.S. trading on
Tuesday to $1.2949 <EUR=>. Against the yen, the euro advanced
0.7 percent to 119.72 yen <EURJPY=R>.
The dollar rose 0.4 percent to 92.50 yen <JPY=>.
Still, plenty of concerns remain, casting doubts on a
sustained rebound in global markets.
A report on Wednesday showed Japan's core machinery orders
fell a bigger than-expected 4.4 percent in October, underlining
a weakness in corporate capital spending in an economy mired in
recession. []
Companies worldwide are responding to the threat to their
corporate profits by cutting jobs and slashing spending. Sony
Corp <6758.T> shares fell 1.5 percent a day after the company
said it aims to cut $1.1 billion in costs in its struggling
electronics operations. []
Oil prices pared Tuesday's steep losses to gain $1.13 to
$43.21 a barrel <CLc1>, though caution remains ahead of U.S.
government data later in the day expected to show a fall in
U.S. distillate and gasoline inventories.
