* "Strong dollar" pledge from US keeps dollar supported
* Tech sector drags on Asia stocks after Apple results
* LME copper edges up to highest since July 2008
(Repeats to more subscribers)
By Kevin Plumberg
HONG KONG, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar was steady on
Tuesday, supported by a pledge from Washington not to devalue
its way to recovery, while weakness in the technology sector
kept Asian stocks struggling to maintain small gains.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner affirmed the
government's desire for a strong dollar for the first time
since February, providing a reason for dealers to take profits
on other currencies' strength in the run up to weekend meetings
of G20 finance ministers. []
However, deep-seated concerns remained among global
policymakers that the Federal Reserve's path to quantitative
easing will keep the dollar weak and maintain sharp upward
pressure on the currencies of other economies, especially in
the emerging markets.
That means the popular trade of selling dollars to buy
emerging market equities and commodities is still in play.
"The reasons for the dollar being weaker, principally that
move towards QE, are still very valid, so any pullbacks are not
going to be enormous," said Gregg Gibbs, currency strategist
with Royal Bank of Scotland in Sydney.
The euro was at $1.3935 <EUR=>, down slightly from late in
New York on Monday. The euro has been unable to maintain a
foothold above $1.40 in October, which may cause frustrated
traders to turn tail and sell it off to $1.3775 over the next
few days.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures performance against a
basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.1 percent
<=USD>, though still not far from a 2010 low hit last Friday.
STOCK EXCHANGES REFLECT MIXED SENTIMENT
Stock exchanges in Asia reflected mixed sentiment, with
gains in Japan and Australia and declines in tech-heavy South
Korea and Taiwan.
Japan's Nikkei share average rose 0.5 percent <>,
extending a gain since September to 6.9 percent, which was
below the 9.7 percent returns from the U.S. S&P 500 index
<.SPX> but above the 3.1 percent from the FTSEurofirst 300
index <>.
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> was largely unchanged on the day, with weakness
in the technology sector offset by some gains in other
segments.
Tech was under pressure after Apple Inc <AAPL.O> posted
disappointing sales of its iPad tablet computer, drawing a
pointed response from the company's chief executive Steve Jobs,
who lashed out at competitors. []
With the dollar at bay, gold also was under wraps, holding
at $1,369.45 an ounce <XAU=>, well below the all-time high of
$1,387.10 an ounce hit last Thursday.
Gold is still in a bullish trend but in the near term risks
a profit-taking driven pullback to $1.361 an ounce.
Copper traders were not waiting for the dollar down-trend
to resume before pushing up the base metal higher. Three-month
copper traded on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.4 percent on
the day to $8,492 a tonne, the highest since July 2008.
(Additional reporting by Charlotte Cooper in TOKYO, Reuters FX
Analyst Krishna Kumar in SYDNEY and Reuters Market Analyst Wang
Tao in SINGAPORE; Editing by Ron Popeski)
