(Updates with latest Asian prices, European shares)
By Rafael Nam
HONG KONG, April 11 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on
Friday, with Japan's Nikkei up almost 3 percent, as chip makers
extended a rally on expectations a slump in the sector may soon
end, while the dollar steadied ahead of the G7 meeting later in
the day.
Asian shares looked set to post a modest gain for the week,
marking a third consecutive week of gains, though trading has
been volatile amid revived concerns about a global financial
crisis and a weakening U.S. economy.
European shares were set to gain on Friday, breaking a
three-day losing streak, as the euro and crude oil traded well
below the records hit in recent sessions.
Oil prices continued to retreat from a record $112.21 hit
on Wednesday, easing some of the concerns about inflation that
had contributed to the volatility in stock markets.
The MSCI's measure of Asian stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose 0.7 percent as of 0610 GMT.
The index is up 0.5 percent for the week, extending a
recovery that saw it gain over 10 percent during the previous
two weeks.
Japan's Nikkei average <> gained 2.9 percent. Fast
Retailing Co <9983.T> surged 5.2 percent after the retailer
raised on Thursday its full-year operating profit forecast by
10 percent on the back of a recovery at its Uniqlo casual
clothing chain. []
Technology shares, such as world's largest maker of
microchip testers Advantest Corp <6857.T>, proved a bright spot
as well, after chip makers on Wall Street gained overnight on
an upgrade by Banc of America Securities of the U.S.
semiconductor sector. []
Asian chip makers such as Hynix Semiconductor Inc
<000660.KS> had already rallied on Thursday following
announcements including from Japan's Elpida Memory Inc <6665.T>
that it would raise prices for some of its memory chips.
"The latest moves by chipmakers are raising hopes that
perhaps the memory chip market downturn has hit bottom and will
gradually get better from here," said Suh Do-won, an analyst at
Hanwha Securities in Seoul.
"Over-supply concern still weighs heavily on memory
chipmakers, but investors are hungry for the slightest good
news and they are quickly responding to it," he added.
Shares in South Korea <>, Taiwan <>, Hong Kong
<>, Singapore <.FTSTI>, and India <> gained by around
1 percent each. The volatile Shanghai index <> was up 0.4
percent.
EURO EASES
The euro, though inching higher against the dollar, stayed
well off the all-time peak hit on Thursday when European
Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet expressed concerns
about excessive volatility in foreign exchange markets.
[]
The euro stood at $1.5780 <EUR=>, up from around $1.5745 in
late U.S. trade on Thursday, but well off a record peak of
$1.5915 hit in the previous session.
Despite the pull-back, traders expected the euro to rebound
after Friday's meeting in Washington of Group of Seven finance
ministers and central banks. []
"There probably will not be any policy coordination on
foreign exchange, and the dollar seems likely to stay weak for
a while," said Tomoko Fujii, head of economics and strategy for
Japan at Bank of America.
The dollar rose to around 102.00 <JPY=>, edging back
towards a one-month high of 102.95 yen hit last week.
Japanese government bonds fell, tracking a slide in
Treasuries overnight and weighed on by the rise in share
markets. The benchmark 10-year JGB yield <JP10YTN=JBTC> rose
slightly to 1.375 percent.
Commodity prices eased, with U.S. crude futures <CLc1> down
47 cents to $109.64 a barrel a day after top exporter Saudi
Arabia insisted markets were amply supplied despite falling
U.S. inventories. []
Prices of oil had shot up to a record on Wednesday after
U.S. government data showed a surprise drop in crude oil and
fuel supplies.
Gold <XAU=> eased towards $921.90/922.70 an ounce on
Friday, a day after jumping to its highest level since March 31
at $939.40.
(Editing by Lincoln Feast)
