* Asian stocks reverse losses, Nikkei ends up 0.1 pct
* China retail sales, industrial output up - HK media
* Singapore has surprisingly strong Q1 growth
By Ian Chua
SYDNEY, April 14 (Reuters) - Asian stocks reversed losses on
Thursday after Hong Kong media reported upbeat Chinese economic
data a day ahead of the official release, and surprisingly
strong growth figures from Singapore underscored investor
confidence in the region.
Gold edged closer to a record high of $1.476.21 as
the U.S. dollar fell to fresh 16-month lows versus a basket of
major currencies, while U.S. crude <CLc1> firmed to $107.45 a
barrel, helped by a sharp fall in U.S. gasoline stocks.
Hong Kong's Phoenix TV, citing an unnamed source, reported
higher-than-expected increases in Chinese retail sales and
industrial output, but also said inflation in the world's second
biggest economy had accelerated. []
Singapore impressed after reporting its economy grew 23.5
percent in the first quarter on an seasonally-adjusted
annualised basis, blowing past even the most bullish forecast in
a Reuters poll.
Singapore's central bank also allowed an immediate rise in
the value of its currency to help tackle inflation, which it
said would likely stay elevated.
The Singapore dollar -- the world's 12th most
actively traded currency -- rose to an all-time high of S$1.2477
per U.S. dollar before slipping back slightly.
The upbeat data helped Asian stocks regain ground with
Japan's Nikkei ending 0.1 percent higher, having earlier
fallen as much as 0.9 percent. Stocks elsewhere in Asia
put on 0.08 percent, keeping in sight a
three-year peak set on Monday.
U.S. stock index futures <SPc1><DJc1> traded modestly
higher, suggesting a positive start for Wall Street.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was one of the weakest
performers in the region, closing down 0.6 percent, led by a 12
percent plunge in contractor Leighton Holdings , which
flagged a big year loss.
"We've had a fantastic run in the previous three weeks.
We're easing back a bit now and that's probably the way we'll
glide into Easter," said Austock Securities senior client
adviser, Michael Heffernan.
U.S. DOLLAR STRUGGLES
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, already under pressure, slipped further in
the wake of Singapore's action.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in remarks published by the
official Xinhua news agency on Thursday, said China should make
its currency more flexible to help rein in price rises.
The dollar index , which tracks its performance
against a basket of major currencies, plumbed a fresh 16-month
trough of 74.642.
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."
(Additional reporting by Miranda Maxwell in Melbourne; Editing
by Richard Borsuk and Sugita Katyal)
