* Asian stocks hover below 8-month highs, Nikkei up 0.4%
* Dollar struggles at 2009 lows, Aussie boosted by GDP
* Oil slips towards $68 a barrel on U.S. inventories
(Repeats to additional subscribers with no change to text)
By Charlotte Cooper
TOKYO, June 3 (Reuters) - Asian shares hovered close to
eight-month highs on Wednesday, pausing for breath after
rallying on optimism that the global economy is through the
worst, while the dollar struggled near its latest set of lows
for the year.
Oil succumbed to profit-taking after a six-day rally which
took it to seven-month highs, with crude futures dipping
towards $68 a barrel <CLc1> after data showed U.S. crude
inventories fell less than expected last week. []
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei stock average <> rose
0.4 percent, boosted by trading house Mitsubishi Corp <8058.T>
and resource shares on sustained commodities demand and high
metals prices. []
The MSCI index of Asian shares excluding Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS>, which is now at levels not seen since the
month Lehman Brothers collapsed, rose 0.7 percent to just below
an eight-month peak set on Tuesday.
The index has risen more than 55 percent since early March
as investor confidence has grown that the global downturn has
slowed, with latest evidence coming from a surprise surge in
U.S. pending homes sales. []
"There's been enough improvement in the global economy to
say that we've put the worst-case scenario behind us," said
Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> closed up 0.2
percent at 8,740.63 on Tuesday, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> rose 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index <>
gained 0.4 percent. []
However Asian markets were not powering away to the same
degree they have done in recent sessions, with analysts still
cautious about the strength of the economic foundations for the
three-month long rally in shares and higher yielding
currencies.
"We need still more proof that things are really
improving," Miura said.
A Bank of Japan policy board member said the central bank
may need to take swift steps to support the world's
second-largest economy depending on changes in the economic
situation.
But Hidetoshi Kamezaki also said Japan, whose economy
shrank at a record 4.0 percent in the first quarter, could
recover slowly by early next year. []
In Australia, gross domestic product data showed the
economy grew 0.4 percent in the January-March quarter, beating
forecasts and confounding fears of it falling into recession.
[].
The data helped Australian shares to their highest in
nearly seven months, with the index <> gaining 0.7 percent
and miners rising on hopes of fresh demand for metals.
The Australian dollar also rose after the numbers, gaining
0.3 percent on the day to $0.8230 <AUD=D4> and trading at its
highest since late September.
The dollar has been the prime loser in the risk-taking
rally that has stoked multi-month peaks in major currencies as
investors gained the confidence to branch out into markets
other than safe-haven dollar-based ones.
The greenback hit its weakest level this year against a
basket of six major currencies <.DXY> on Tuesday and was
hovering just above that level on Wednesday.
The euro eased slightly to $1.4303 <EUR=> after hitting a
2009 high of $1.4332 on electronic trading platform EBS in the
previous session and the dollar held its own at 95.74 yen
<JPY=>.
Gold steadied at over $983 per ounce <XAU=>, with the
weaker dollar supporting demand for bullion as a hedge against
deterioration of dollar-denominated portfolios. It hit a
three-month high above $988 on Monday.
U.S. crude futures slipped towards $68 a barrel <CLc1>
after data showed U.S. crude inventories fell less than
expected last week. Futures hit their highest since early
November on Tuesday, above $69 a barrel.
(Editing by Kazunori Takada)
