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By Rafael Nam
HONG KONG, April 3 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose to their
highest in a month on Thursday as a rally in gold and oil
lifted resource shares, while a surprisingly optimistic
indicator for U.S. jobs raised hopes of a milder U.S. economy
recession than previously feared.
The U.S. private sector added 8,000 jobs in March,
according to a report on Wednesday by ADP Employer Services,
confounding economist expectations and taking some of the sting
off the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's warning that
the U.S. economy may slip into recession, his first such
concession. But the U.S. dollar remained under pressure,
in contrast with more optimistic stock investors, keeping
prices for commodities such as gold and oil strong a day after
a rally in these asset classes.
"We are at an interesting juncture where we've got negative
forces like the U.S. credit and subprime problems and positive
forces from all the demand for resources," said Peter Vann,
head of investment research at Constellation Capital Management
in Australia.
"Investors certainly don't like to hear the word
'recession' but there was nothing new there because most
commentators have been talking about a strong likelihood of a
U.S. recession. Bernanke was just giving further credence to
that."
The Fed Chairman had told a congressional panel on
Wednesday the U.S. economy may slip into recession, but said
growth should pick up later this year as the impact of U.S.
interest rate cuts and other emergency steps take root.
[]
The MSCI's measure of Asian stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose 0.6 percent by 0241 GMT, after earlier
hitting its highest level since March 6.
The prospects of a U.S. recession and the global financial
crisis have dented Asian shares this year, with the MSCI index
still down 12 percent in 2007 as of the previous close.
The index rose 2.9 percent on Wednesday after write-downs
and capital raisings by global investment banks such as UBS
<UBSN.VX> was seen as an attempt to get a handle on the soured
portfolios of subprime-related and other assets.
Australian shares <> rose 1.4 percent, hitting a
five-week high, boosted by gains in heavyweight resource firms
such as BHP Billiton Ltd <BHP.AX> and Woodside Petroleum
<WPL.AX>.
Shares in South Korea <>, Hong Kong <> and
Singapore <.FTSTI> were up under 1 percent each.
"Investors are now focused on potentially positive factors
rather than negative factors, as was seen in the recent relief
rally after huge writedowns by UBS for instance," said Lee
Sun-yeon, a market analyst at Goodmorning Shinhan Securities in
Seoul.
"Also the view is that the U.S. economic slowdown will not
be as sharp as previously feared," he added.
But shares in Shanghai <> fell 0.9 percent, while
Taiwan's main index <> was down 0.1 percent.
SOME SCEPTICISM
Not all investors appeared to share the faith in the U.S.
economy.
The dollar was under pressure against major currencies --
trading slightly lower at $1.5672 <EUR=> and steady against the
yen at 102.30 <JPY=> following Bernanke's comments.
"The comments are definitely not dollar-positive and cooled
optimism about the credit problems that have spread recently,"
said a senior dealer at a European bank in Tokyo.
"Bernanke's economic assessment is gloomy and sends a
reminder that a recovery in the market's mood has been a bit
too much."
U.S. crude futures <CLc1> steadied at $104.53 a barrel a
day after oil prices surged almost $4 on the weaker dollar and
on U.S. government data showing a sharp drawdown in refined
fuel stocks. []
The gains in oil helped gold <XAU=> rise to $903.30/904.10
an ounce from $898.00/898.80 in late U.S. trade on Wednesday,
still more than $100 an ounce off last month's record high of
$1,030.80.
(Editing by Lincoln Feast)
