* Singapore has surprisingly strong Q1 growth
* Asian shares off lows; oil edges up
* U.S. dollar shaky after recent fall
SYDNEY, April 14 (Reuters) - Asian stocks got off to a
subdued start on Thursday following a lacklustre finish on Wall
Street, but surprisingly strong economic growth data from
Singapore helped dispel some of the caution and briefly weighed
on the U.S. dollar.
U.S. crude <CLc1> edged up 8 cents to $107.18 after data
showed U.S. gasoline stockpiles plunged last week and on
lingering worries about the Libyan conflict.
In the first quarter, Singapore's gross domestic product
grew 23.5 percent quarter-on-quarter on an seasonally-adjusted
annualised basis, blowing past even the most bullish forecast in
a Reuters poll.
The central bank also allowed an immediate rise in the value
of its currency dollar to help tackle inflation, which it said
would likely stay elevated. []
The Singapore dollar rose as high as S$1.2452 to the
U.S. dollar from S$1.2555 before the central bank released its
policy statement.
Japan's Nikkei fell about 0.8 percent and then rose
to be off 0.5 percent, and stocks elsewhere in Asia
also slipped about 0.5 percent.
By allowing its currency to rise, Singapore could encourage
other Asian central banks to let their currencies appreciate
further to contain imported inflation.
"The monetary policy is a little more aggressive than we
expected, so I think it's a realisation that inflation is going
to be a bigger problem in the months ahead," said Wai Ho Leong,
economist at Barclays Capital.
"The recent crisis in Japan is probably adding to inflation
pressure, rather than subtracting from growth in the near term."
Still, last month's devastating earthquake and tsunami in
Japan's northeast saw Japanese corporate confidence plunge by a
record amount in April, a Reuters survey showed.
The U.S. dollar came under a bit of pressure following
Singapore's action. The dollar index , which tracks its
performance against a basket of major currencies, plumbed a
session low at 74.893, before recovering to last trade at
75.035.
It remained not far off a 16-month trough of 74.704 set on
Tuesday.
A mixed bag U.S. data, including a small rise in retail
sales, did nothing to change the view that the Federal Reserve
would stick to its super-easy monetary policy, that is a
negative factor for dollar bulls.
Wall Street ended a choppy session little changed, although
an upbeat outlook from network equipment maker Riverbed
Technology inc helped the tech-heavy Nasdaq
close 0.6 percent higher.
There was little market reaction to U.S. President Barack
Obama's freshly announced goal of cutting the U.S. budget
deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years through spending cuts and
tax increases on the rich.
"The move to fiscal discipline is not likely to weigh
materially on growth in 2011," BNP Paribas analysts wrote in a
client note, adding it was unlikely to hit 2012 hard as well
given it is an election year.
"But efforts to address the longer-term fiscal picture would
indeed be encouraging."
(Reporting by Ian Chua; Editing by Richard Borsuk)
