* BOJ begins emergency meeting to ease monetary policy
* Nikkei up 3 pct; short-covering, shift out of bonds helps
* JGBs tumble, yield curve steepens sharply
* Yen slips but BOJ impact could be limited: analysts
* Asian stocks rise, track gains on Wall Street
(Repeats to more subscribers)
By Vikram S.Subhedar
HONG KONG, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Japanese shares jumped over 3
percent while the yen fell as the Bank of Japan held an
emergency meeting to curb a rise in the Japanese currency that
is threatening a fragile economic recovery.
Asian stocks outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000US> rose 1.3 percent,
tracking gains on Wall Street on Friday which rose over 1.5
percent on technical-related buying despite dour comments from
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.
The strengthening Japanese currency, which hit a 15-year
high of 83.58 yen against the dollar last week, has taken its
toll on the country's exporters, pushing the Nikkei <>
down nearly 20 percent since its peak in early April.
The BOJ is widely expected to loosen monetary policy by
expanding its cheap fixed-rate loan programme for banks, which
was put in place in December last year and expanded once in
March. [] []
BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa will hold a news conference
at 2:30 p.m. (0530 GMT) after the meeting. He will also meet
with Prime Minister Naoto Kan in the afternoon, Jiji news
agency said. []
Cabinet ministers are due to decide the basic thrust of
additional measures to help the slowing economy at a meeting in
later on Monday, Kyodo news agency said, but Japan's huge
public debt, now twice the size of the economy, constrains his
options.
Some analysts questioned whether the central bank would
take steps bold enough to stem a rise in the yen that hurts
exports and may delay Japan's exit from deflation.
"Shares of exporters are being buoyed mainly by
short-covering after news of the BOJ's emergency meeting
prompted buying of dollar/yen, though this policy news may run
its course if the meeting doesn't yield major surprises," said
Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief equity marketing officer at Tokai
Tokyo Securities.
* The yen slipped broadly with the dollar rising to the
day's high of 85.75 yen <JPY=> on trading platform EBS, up from
around 85.35 yen. The dollar last stood at 85.7 yen, up about
0.6 percent from late trading on Friday.
* The benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yield
<JP10YTN=JBTC> jumped more than 10 basis points and the yield
curve steepened sharply as longer-dated bonds extended losses
in the wake of a jump in Tokyo shares and weaker U.S.
Treasuries.
* Gold started its fifth straight week in positive
territory ahead of U.S. economic data that could point to
further economic softening.
* Light crude oil for October delivery rose 0.48 percent to
$75.53 per barrel, heading for the fourth straight session of
rises. On Friday prices were boosted by a rally in U.S. stocks
as investors shrugged off cautionary remarks by the Federal
Reserve chief.
(Additional reporting by Aiko Hayashi in TOKYO; Editing by
Kazunori Takada)
