* Strong China data boosts Asia stocks, global recovery hopes
* Asia stocks up 0.3 percent in choppy trade
* Euro zone debt problems still linger, limiting gains
* Weakness on Wall St also weighs on investor sentiment (Repeats to more subscribers)
By Sugita Katyal
SINGAPORE, June 10 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on Thursday on better-than-expected Chinese exports and assurances from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that the U.S. economic recovery was on solid footing.
The euro steadied but continued to look fragile near four-year lows against the dollar, with traders awaiting a European Central Bank meeting later in the day to see if it plans any fresh steps to helped debt-stricken euro zone countries. [
]Asian markets also drew support from positive comments by Bernanke, who told the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee that the U.S economic recovery was on track even if jobs would return only slowly.
Bernanke said that while a double-dip recession "can never be entirely ruled out," he expected the world's largest economy to continue growing. [
]Global stock markets and the euro were given a boost on Wednesday when sources told Reuters that Chinese exports had grown about 50 percent in May from a year earlier, blowing past expectations and offsetting concerns that problems in Europe could derail the global recovery.
But U.S. stock markets surrendered early gains as a host of other negative factors overwhelmed the impact of the China data, highlighting the skittishness of investors, who have been quickly selling into any market rallies. [
]That nervousness and lingering worries about Europe limited further gains in Asia on Thursday, even as China's official data confirmed faster growth, with exports up 48.5 percent in May from a year earlier and imports up 48.3 percent. [
]Japan's Nikkei share index <
> rose 0.3 percent, with the MSCI ex-Japan stock index <.MIAPJ0000PUS> up 0.14 percent. But markets in Hong Kong < > and Shanghai < > saw modest losses as traders took profits on Wednesday's China-fuelled rally."The global economy doesn't appear to be in such a bad shape, except for problems with Europe's finances," said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities.
"Foreign investors who have been selling Japanese stocks want to sell because they're worried about liquidity, not because they have reviewed their stance on Japan. They'll need to see the European problems calm down."
The Nikkei's relative strength index remained around 34, with levels of 30 and below signalling a market has been oversold.
Australian shares also rose, adding 0.8 percent, with resources stocks leading the way on higher metals prices, strong Chinese output and trade data, and better-than-expected Australian job figures. Australia is a major supplier of iron ore and other raw materials to China.
EURO STILL FRAIL
The euro was little changed from late U.S. trade at $1.1965 <EUR=>, after the robust Chinese export news and options-linked demand briefly pushed it above $1.20 overnight.
The ECB is expected to keep interest rates at a record low when it meets later on Thursday. Analysts are watching to see what it can do to shore up sentiment and euro zone economic growth, which is likely to suffer as heavily indebted countries slash their spending to reduce strains on their finances and give them access to emergency aid. [
]Against the yen, the euro edged down 0.1 percent to 109.21 yen <EURJPY=R> and the dollar was steady at 91.23 yen <JPY=>.
The Australian dollar was up 0.2 percent against the dollar at $0.8289 <AUD=D4> with investors awaiting Australian employment data, in case the data beats expectations as it did last month.
The New Zealand dollar was up 0.1 percent at $0.6722 <NZD=D4> following a 1 percent rally made after the country's central bank hiked interest rates from a record low, its first move since the global crisis.[
]U.S. crude oil futures <CLc1> gave up ground after climbing 3 percent a day earlier on the Chinese export news and a big drawdown in U.S. oil inventories.
Crude for July delivery fell 27 cents to $74.11 a barrel after Wall Street closed lower, hurt by falls in BP <BP.L> and other energy shares as a U.S. probe into a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico intensified.
(Editing by Kim Coghill)