* Asian shares jump after strong day on Wall St
* HK up, banks weather hike in China reserve requirements
* Financials, resource-linked shares lead region
* Euro steady, dollar on back foot
By Charlotte Cooper
TOKYO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Asian shares leapt on Wednesday
after a jump on Wall Street, with financial and resource stocks
leading and shares in Hong Kong shrugging off China's latest
move to temper robust lending.
The Hang Seng <> rose 1.7 percent after a long Lunar
New Year holiday break, with Chinese banking stocks like Bank
of China <3988.HK> gaining over 2 percent despite Friday's
surprise hike in bank reserve requirements by Beijing as it
tries to moderate credit growth and inflationary pressures.
Shanghai markets remain shut for the entire week.
Shares in Tokyo climbed 2.1 percent, buoyed by resource
stocks such as Mitsubishi Corp <8058.T>, while the MSCI index
of Asian shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose 1.5 percent,
touching its highest level in three weeks.
Resource shares gained after copper led a rally across the
broader base metals complex on Tuesday as the dollar stumbled
and as equities markets recovered from a sell-off in recent
weeks that was triggered by growing debt problems in Greece and
fears that the global economic recovery was losing momentum.
U.S. stocks posted gains of as much as 1.8 percent
overnight as traders returned from a three-day break, helped by
strong New York State factory data and gains in European
equities, which were buoyed by upbeat results from UK bank
Barclays <BARC.L>. []
"There's a bit more of a shift to riskier assets,
especially those linked to commodities, and this may continue
for a day or two," said Tomomi Yamashita, a fund manager at
Shinkin Asset Management in Tokyo.
"There's no question that the U.S. economy is improving,
especially if you look at indicators, although this does raise
the question of when we could expect an interest rate hike."
Japan's benchmark Nikkei <> touched its highest level
since early February and the broader Topix <> rose 1.8
percent.
But Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> fell 0.2 percent after U.S.
regulators opened an investigation into whether it had acted in
a timely way to recall cars for acceleration problems. The
automaker also moved to slow its U.S. production.
[]
Toyota shares have lost about a fifth of their value since
it announced more massive recalls in late January for safety
issues.
In Seoul, shares rose 1.4 percent <> as the U.S. data
fuelled foreign buying into financial and technology stocks,
but a fall in the dollar and strengthening in the won limited
gains in Hyundai Motor <005380.KS> and other exporters.
Australian stocks rallied 1.9 percent <>, the biggest
one-day gain in two-and-a-half months, with banks benefiting
from strong trading updates and miners drawing strength from
the jump in commodity prices.
Top miners BHP Billiton <BHP.AX> and Rio Tinto <RIO.AX>
climbed nearly 2 and 3 percent respectively as metal prices
rose after the dollar sank against the euro, and as investors
eyeing strong growth in Asia piled into industrial metals.
The dollar index <.DXY>, a gauge of its strength against
six other major currencies, was unchanged from late U.S. levels
after shedding 0.8 percent the previous session and hitting its
lowest level in a week. It was the biggest one-day fall since
November.
The euro held steady after surging 1.3 percent against the
dollar on Tuesday. Investors were still cautious, however, wary
that Greece's debt problems have yet to be solved, and the euro
remains highly sensitive to more negative fiscal news.
It was trading at $1.3760 <EUR=>, down 0.1 percent on the
day but well above last week's nine-month low of $1.3532.
Gold prices steadied near two-week highs, with spot gold
<XAU=> at $1,116 an ounce.
U.S. crude futures edged higher above $77 a barrel <CLc1>
but trading volumes were light as market players awaited a slew
of statistics due later in the day for further price
direction.
(Additional reporting by Elaine Lies, Satomi Noguchi in
Tokyo, Victoria Thieberger in Melbourne and Sui-Lee Wee in Hong
Kong)
(Editing by Kim Coghill)
