* Asia stocks edge up 0.7 pct, hover near 6-mth peak
* Euro hits 1-mth low on ECB policy doubts
* Corporate earnings rush stirs caution (Repeats to more
subscribers)
By Eric Burroughs
HONG KONG, April 20 (Reuters) - Asian stocks edged up on
Monday, holding near a six-month peak and withstanding an early
bout of profit-taking as investors eyed a slew of corporate
earnings reports around the world this week.
European shares <> fell 0.4 percent in early trade,
with Britain's FTSE 100 <> off 0.1 percent and Germany's
DAX <> down 0.8 percent.
The higher-yielding Australian dollar fell from a six-month
high and commodity prices slipped after the initial drop in
stocks, with assets that have gained the most on bets for a
gradual global recovery coming under pressure.
The euro slipped to a one-month low against the dollar on
uncertainty over what the European Central Bank's next policy
easing steps will be.
Over the weekend, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said
that the next move would be a quarter-point trim in rates, but
other officials have sent mixed signals on what unconventional
measures could be adopted. []
The ECB has lagged moves by the Federal Reserve, Bank of
England and Bank of Japan in making asset purchases on top of
cutting interest rates to near zero to revive their
recession-hit economies.
"The euro looks set to fall further, following the same
path as the dollar, sterling and the yen did when they faced
month-long selling after their central banks adopted
unconventional measures," said Kengo Suzuki, a currency
strategist at Shinko Securities in Tokyo.
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> was up 0.7 percent, getting a boost from gains
in Hong Kong <> and Taiwan <>.
The MSCI benchmark last week hit its strongest levels since
mid October and has surged 36 percent from its lows struck in
March, outpacing recent gains in most other global stock
markets. But it is still down a whopping 47 percent since the
end of 2007 when the financial crisis flared up.
BOC Hong Kong <2388.HK>, the Bank of China's local
subsidiary, jumped more than 5 percent after China said over
the weekend it would allow Hong Kong banks on the mainland to
issue yuan-denominated bonds, a move seen helping spur loan
growth. []
Chinese shares in Shanghai <> rose 2.1 percent to
eight-month highs as investors grew more confident about
China's economic outlook, while South Korea added 0.6 percent.
Australia's main index <> slipped 0.2 percent.
U.S. shares climbed on Friday and the Dow Industrials
average <> scored its strongest six-week run since 1938.
But S&P futures <SPc1> were down 0.6 percent in Asia and were
pointing to a weaker start at the opening bell.
U.S. banks will continue to be in focus, with results from
Bank of America <BAC.N>, Wells Fargo <WFC.N> and Bank of New
York Mellon <BK.N> among the major ones this week.
President Barack Obama said on Sunday that the U.S. economy
remained under strain, and his top economic adviser tempered
hopes for a speedy recovery that have driven the stock market
to successive gains. []
Japan's Nikkei average <> drifted up 0.2 percent,
with
shares of steelmakers <.ISTEL.T> extending gains after they
agreed to a smaller than expected price cut with Toyota
<7203.T>.
The news offset Toshiba's <6502.T> 4.8 percent slide on
reports the electronics maker will raise $5 billion in capital
-- its first share issue in 28 years -- to bolster its
financial position.
JGBS RETREAT, BUT NZ SWAP RATES SLIP
Government bonds in Japan retreated following a decline in
U.S. Treasuries on Friday and as the rally in stocks was
showing signs of holding up, even as some investors wondered if
equities were due for a near-term reversal after the six-week
run higher.
Japan's Ministry of Finance was set to meet with big
investors after talks with primary bond dealers on Friday as it
eyes how to smooth out the expected surge in bond issuance to
pay for the country's latest stimulus package totalling ($156
billion).
June JGB futures <2JGBv1> dipped 0.18 point to 136.63, near
a six-month low. Benchmark 10-year JGB yields <JP10YTN=JBTC>
edged up 2.5 basis points to 1.470 percent.
But in New Zealand, five-year swap rates <NZDIRS> fell
about 3 basis points to a one-month low of 4.745 percent as
market players started seeing a bigger chance the country's
central bank could cut interest rates by 50 basis points at a
meeting next week.
The New Zealand swaps market has also settled down after
rates soared in March as local banks tried to hedge themselves
against an expected rush of homeowners resetting mortgages to
fixed rates, taking advantage of historically low interest
rates.
In currencies, the euro fell 0.4 percent to $1.2990 <EUR=>
and struck a one-month low of $.2967 on trading platform EBS.
Against the yen, the dollar dipped 0.2 percent to 98.95 yen
<JPY=>.
The dollar index, a gauge of its performance against six
major currencies, climbed slightly to 86.176 <.DXY> after
pushing up to a one-month peak of 86.287 on the euro's drop.
U.S. crude oil prices fell as much as 2 percent to near $49
a barrel <CLc1> on the dollar's gains and caution on the pace
of any global economic recovery. Gold was little changed at
$867.20 an ounce <XAU=>.
(Additional reporting by Satomi Noguchi in Tokyo)
(Editing by Kim Coghill)
