* Asian stocks up for fourth day, led by materials
* HSBC recovers from sharp fall
* Euro rebounds but investors wary
* Gold hovers near 6-week high, oil steadies
By Kevin Yao
SINGAPORE, March 3 (Reuters) - Commodity plays led Asian
shares higher for a fourth straight session on Wednesday while
the euro extended its rebound as investors held out hope for a
bailout package for debt-ridden Greece.
But European shares, following a late sell-off on Wall
Street, were expected to open lower, with Britain's FTSE 100
<> and Germany's DAX <> seen down 0.3 percent and
France's CAC-40 <> expected to open 0.5 percent lower.
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> was up 0.5 percent, helped by a 1.3 percent
jump in the materials sector as commodity prices pushed higher.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index <>, a favourite among
foreign investors, edged up with HSBC <0005.HK> gaining more
than 1 percent as investors covered short positions after
Tuesday's sharp fall.
HSBC stocks tumbled 7 percent on Tuesday after Europe's
biggest bank posted disappointing 2009 results.
Japan's Nikkei stock average clawed up 0.3 percent, led by
a 3 percent jump in Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> after a drop in
its February U.S. sales turned out to be smaller than expected
given the company's massive recall.
But trade was lacklustre, with investors sidelined ahead of
key U.S. jobs data due out on Friday as they searched for clues
about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.
"Fundamentally things still aren't that good, with spending
and jobs still not recovering that much even though
manufacturing isn't doing that poorly," said Hiroaki Osakabe, a
fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management.
"The recovery will take time. People were a bit too
optimistic in January, especially regarding Japanese stocks."
WARY ON EURO
The euro gained a fifth of a percent to $1.3644 <EUR=>,
pulling away from a near 10-month low of $1.3433 hit the
previous day as investors expected that Greece would announce
new austerity measures and win EU financial support.
Prime Minister George Papandreou has called a cabinet
meeting for Wednesday. [] On Tuesday, Papandreou
urged civil servants and pensioners to accept sacrifices.
The European Commission said Greece must take additional
measures to reach its deficit reduction target of 4 percent of
gross domestic product in 2010.
Fears about debt problems in Europe have rattled financial
markets in recent weeks.
Investors have trimmed record short positions in the euro,
which is still down 4.7 percent against the dollar so far this
year, but few expect it to quickly reverse course.
"I would sell rallies to the low $1.37s, as I believe the
market is already pricing in a Greek rescue, and the growth and
yield story still works against the euro," said Sean Callow,
currency strategist at Westpac.
"Plus no one believes European officials would be upset by
euro's decline to $1.30 and below, so long as it isn't too
sudden."
Sterling rose to $1.5060 <GBP=D4> on short-covering after
hitting a 10-month low of $1.4781 earlier in the week. It has
been hurt by worries that an election due in months could give
neither the opposition Conservatives nor the ruling Labour
Party a parliamentary majority.
Positive fourth-quarter gross domestic product data from
Australia lifted the Australian dollar and helped drive gold
prices <XAU> to a high of $1,136 an ounce, near six-week high.
The volatility in currencies has spurred gold buying in
recent weeks as investors seek a safe haven.
Shanghai copper prices <SCFc3> cut early gains on news
supply from top producer Chile will not be significantly
disrupted as key mines resumed operations after the weekend's
massive earthquake.
Oil prices <CLc1> were steady near $79.65 a barrel after
rising 98 cents a day earlier.
(Additional reporting by Elaine Lies in TOKYO; Editing by Nick
Macfie)
