* Japan shares undervalued? Hedge funds think so
* GM booms overnight; Irish debt tensions ease
By David Fox
SINGAPORE, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Asian stock markets rose
slightly on Friday and euro held firm after a strong Wall
Street performance and moves towards heading off a potential
Irish debt crisis.
The overnight momentum carried over into Friday and at
0130 GMT the MSCI All-Country World equity index
was up nearly half a percent at 464.05 after
hitting a one-month low earlier in the week.
Shares in Shanghai and South Korea rose
and Japan's Nikkei average climbed more than 1 percent to a
five-month high above 10,000, propelled by buying by overseas
hedge funds and a fall in the yen, which makes exporters look
more attractive.
Blue-chip shares rose broadly. Banking shares were likely
buoyed by short-covering and fresh buying by a U.S. brokerage
on the view that they are undervalued, one market player said.
The charts also point to stronger upside potential after
the Nikkei on Thursday broke through solid resistance at its
200-day moving average for the first time since May. The next
target looms around its June high of 10,251.90.
"Many hedge funds close books in November and now is a
time when short-covering tends to emerge. Solid U.S. economic
data and GM's listing yesterday are also lending help," said
Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief equity marketing officer at Tokai
Tokyo Securities.
The Nikkei rose earlier as much as 1.2 percent to
10,130.23, its highest level since June 22.
The euro edged up 0.11 percent to $1.3627,
supported by rising expectations of a financial rescue plan
for Ireland. []
The dollar held steady against a basket of
currencies and against the yen. .
News that Ireland may avert a debt crisis weighed on
bonds. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note
fell 5/32 in price to lift yields to 2.90 percent.
U.S. crude oil futures<CLc1> gained nearly 50 cents to
$82.11 per barrel, retracing part of a four-session drop,
while spot gold was up $6.20 to $1,359.65 an ounce.
GM WOWS WALL STREET; IRISH EYES SMILING
Global stocks rose on Thursday as a blockbuster General
Motors Co stock offering dovetailed with upbeat U.S.
economic data and easing Irish debt tensions.
GM's return to the market less than 18 months after it
emerged from bankruptcy, raised $20.1 billion, the largest
U.S. initial public offering. []
Manufacturing activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region
grew much more than expected, a survey from the Philadelphia
Federal Reserve Bank showed. An improvement in weekly initial
claims for U.S. jobless benefits helped boost the dollar.
[]
The U.S. data helped erode some of the euro's gains as
uncertainty about the Irish crisis ebbed after Dublin agreed
to work with a European Union-International Monetary Fund
mission on steps to shore up its battered banking sector.
[] []
But analysts are skeptical any rebound in risk appetite
can be sustained when fiscal problems are still severe in
Ireland and other peripheral euro-zone countries such as
Portugal and many investors are inclined to cut risk exposure
before the year-end.
"It's absolutely vital for the authorities to take
pro-active steps in order to try to resolve this crisis as
soon as possible. The market should see some relief in
relation to that," said Henk Potts, equity strategist at
Barclays Wealth.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.57 percent
on Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained
1.54 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 1.55
percent.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top
shares climbed 1.43 percent.
(Additional reporting by Aiko Hayashi, Daniel Bases,
Angela Moon, Jessica Mortimer and Joanne Frearson; Editing by
Neil Fullick)
