By Tom Miles
HONG KONG, March 6 (Reuters) - Asian stockmarkets rose on
Thursday, welcoming a survey that showed the U.S. services
sector was not as weak as expected and largely ignoring a drop
in the dollar to a record low and a new high for oil prices.
A report on Wednesday from the Institute for Supply
Management showed the U.S. service sector shrank in February at
a slower pace than in January. []
For currency traders, the report reinforced fears of a U.S.
recession when combined with a private report on U.S. jobs that
may be a harbinger of Friday's key payrolls data.
But share traders greeted the latest U.S. economic data
with less pessimism because the figure was not as weak as had
been expected and they took solace in the dollar stabilising
some what after it fell on Wednesday.
After the data, the dollar slipped to a record low reading
of 73.368 against a basket of currencies <.DXY> and the euro
<EUR=> poked above $1.53 for the first time.
"I think we will see another bout of dollar selling if
(Friday's) jobs data comes in weak," said a trader for a
European bank in Tokyo.
The dollar remained close to its low against the euro in
Asian trade and wavered around 103.75 yen <JPY=>, giving up
gains it made on Wednesday.
The weaker dollar further whetted the appetite for oil,
which rallied $5 after the export cartel OPEC decided not to
raise output and data showed U.S. inventories had fallen
sharply.
U.S. crude <CLc1> struck an all-time high of $104.95 a
barrel on Wednesday and lurked within reach of the record at
$104.50 in Asian trade. []
OPEC officials backed their decision by blaming high prices
on speculators and mismanagement of the U.S. economy, a jab at
President George W. Bush, who had earlier criticised the oil
producers for acting recklessly.
"I think it's a mistake to have your biggest customer's
economy to slow down ... as a result of high energy prices,"
Bush said.
Oil's perkiness was reflected in gold <XAU=>, a safe-haven
asset which has also hit repeated records this year. It stood
at $985.40/6.20 by 0209 GMT, within striking distance of the
$1,000 milestone, which some traders see in terms of "when, not
if".
MINERS GAIN
Japanese government bonds attracted some safe-haven buying
as concerns about the U.S. economic outlook helped drive March
10-year futures <2JGBv1> to 138.98, their highest level since
September 2005.
But trading was light as many players stayed out of the
action as the Bank of Japan starts a two-day policy meeting on
Thursday, in which it is widely expected to leave interest
rates on hold at 0.5 percent, and ahead of Friday's U.S. jobs
report.
Japan's Nikkei index <> was up 1.44 percent by 0216
GMT and the MSCI index of Asian stockmarkets outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> was 1.0 higher.
Australia's miners, led by BHP Billiton <BHP.AX> and Rio
Tinto <RIO.AX> gained on the strength of prices for oil, gold
and copper <MCU3>, which struck a 22-month high.
But even some of Asia's most oil-sensitive stocks saw the
bright side, with Korean Air <003490.KS> up 1.1 percent.
"The U.S. service sector data came out better than the
market consensus, and it has helped lift the investor sentiment
as seen in the U.S. market gains yesterday," said Lee Sun-yup,
an analyst at Goodmorning Shinhan Securities in Seoul.
"Recession fears are somewhat abated," he added.
Asia's optimism followed an improvement in the mood on Wall
Street, where the Dow Jones industrial average <> ended up
0.34 percent at 12,254.99 on Wednesday -- snapping a
four-session losing streak.
(Additional reporting by Masayuki Kitano in TOKYO; editing
by Neil Fullick)
