By Jacqueline Wong
SINGAPORE, April 17 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share
average rose 2 percent on Thursday, buoyed by confidence on
Wall Street after reassuring earnings eclipsed weak data on the
U.S. economy which pinned the dollar near record lows on the
euro.
Encouraging results from Intel Corp <INTC.O>, IBM <IBM.N>
and JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> helped overshadow mostly gloomy
economic news on the world's largest economy.
A sharp fall in U.S. housing starts and data that showed
home building sank to a 17-year low on Wednesday reinforced
expectations the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates
again.
Oil <CLc1> hovered around $115 a barrel, off a record high,
while gold <XAU=> steadied after climbing more than 2 percent
the day before, supported by a weak dollar.
Japanese stocks climbed led by high-tech shares such as TDK
Corp <6762.T> and Canon Inc <7751.T> after earnings from U.S.
blue chips soothed investors concerned about corporate
profitability amid a weak U.S. economy.
"Earnings at U.S. companies have generally been better than
expected, though worries about Citigroup's earnings remain,"
said Yoku Ihara, manager of the investment information
department at Retela Crea Securities.
By the midday break, the benchmark Nikkei average <>
was up 2.3 percent at 13,452.23 after ending up 1.2 percent on
Wednesday.
The MSCI's measure of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose 1.2 percent by 0200 GMT, building on
Wednesday's more than 1 percent gain, though the index is still
down around 10 percent so far this year.
Markets in Seoul <>, Singapore <.FTSTI>, Sydney
<> and Hong Kong <> all posted gains of more than 1
percent.
Financial stocks rose after solid results from JPMorgan and
Wells Fargo & Co <WFC.N> heartened investors who had been
counting on the big banks to fare better than rivals in coping
with the U.S. mortgage meltdown and global credit crunch.
[]
DOLLAR DOWNBEAT
The dollar held near an all-time low against the euro on
expectations of further rate cuts as the U.S. economy slows,
while record high inflation in the euro zone backed views the
European Central Bank will not cut rates soon. []
"The dollar continues to be weak, while investors chase
currencies whose yields are not seen falling," said Tsutomu
Soma, senior manager of foreign assets at Okasan Securities.
The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday economic conditions
were weakening across much of the United States while price
pressures from food, fuel and raw materials were increasing.
The Commerce Department also said housing starts dropped
11.9 percent in March to an annual rate of 947,000 units, the
slowest pace since March 1991 and well below economists'
expectations.
The euro dipped to $1.5935 <EUR=> from around $1.5945 in
late U.S. trade, but stayed within a striking distance of the
all-time high of $1.5980 hit on electronic trading platform
EBS.
The dollar was at 101.90 yen <JPY=>, barely budging against
the Japanese currency.
Japanese government bond futures slid more than half a
point to a six-week low, dampened by the rise in the Nikkei.
June 10-year futures <2JGBv1> fell as much as 0.65 point to
138.84, the lowest since early March. The benchmark 10-year
yield <JP10YTN=JBTC> climbed 3 basis points.
U.S. crude futures for May <CLc1> was trading up 2 cents at
$114.95 a barrel by 0225 GMT, after touching an all-time high
of $115.21 earlier, buoyed by data showing a draw in stocks.
[]
U.S. crude stocks fell 2.3 million barrels last week,
countering analysts' forecasts for a build, while gasoline
stocks fell 5.5 million barrels.
(Editing by Lincoln Feast)
