* Asian stocks drift higher, exporters underpin Nikkei
* KOSPI and TAIEX both reach 14-mth closing highs
* Dollar steadies, yen slips as Japan FX policy eyed
* Volumes subdued, typhoon shuts HK markets most of day
By Eric Burroughs
HONG KONG, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Asian stocks edged up on
Tuesday, with markets in South Korea and Taiwan closing at
14-month highs, as investors put their faith in the global
economic recovery and looked past a trade spat between the
United States and China.
European shares opened slightly higher, with futures on the
Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 <STXEc1> up 0.4 percent.
The technology and exporter sectors were the biggest
gainers on a day without a major theme driving the markets in
Asia. LG Electronics <066570.KS>, the world's No. 3 handset
maker, jumped more than 3 percent in Seoul to snap a weeklong
slide.
"Investors want to know if the U.S. economy is ready for a
turnaround without government help and how consumers are
faring," said Kim Young-june, a market analyst at SK Securities
in Seoul, before U.S. retail sales data is released later.
The Nikkei average <> rose 0.2 percent as companies
such as Canon Inc <7751.T> bounced back from a slide sparked by
the yen's jump to a seven-month high against the dollar, which
took the Japanese currency into territory seen as damaging to
exporter earnings.
The yen <JPY=> slipped beyond 91 per dollar, providing some
relief to investors worried that sustained gains would prove a
serious obstacle to Japan Inc's gradual recovery this year.
While officials in the outgoing Japanese government voiced
concern about the yen's rise, the former finance minister
tipped to again take the helm of the ministry -- Hirohisa Fujii
-- has said Japan should not intervene in markets.
[]
"Market participants speculate Fujii may be more tolerant
of a stronger yen and reluctant about intervening in the forex
market," said Makoto Yamashita, chief Japan interest rate
strategist at Deutsche Securities in Tokyo.
Japan has racked up foreign reserves totalling more than $1
trillion, second only to China's, from its previous bouts of
yen-selling intervention.
But Japan has stayed out of the market since 2004, even
during last year's violent yen surge as leveraged carry trades
were unwound. The lack of action has stirred questions about
whether Tokyo has already adopted a more hands-off currency
policy.
Trading activity was limited during the day because Hong
Kong's financial markets were closed for the morning as Typhoon
Koppu swept through the city. The Hong Kong bourse was set to
open for the afternoon session. []
Taiwan's TAIEX <> outperformed the region, climbing
1.2 percent to a 14-month high on hopes that the launch of
Microsoft's Windows 7 will boost demand for PC makers such as
Asustek <2357.TW>.
Seoul's KOSPI <> rose 1.1 percent, with financial
shares such as Shinhan Financial Group <055550.KS> leading
gains.
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares <.MIAPJ0000PUS> was
up 0.9 percent, recouping some of the previous day's losses and
hovering just below a one-year peak struck last week. For the
year, the MSCI benchmark for Asia is still up about 53 percent.
On Monday, the U.S. S&P 500 <.SPX> edged up 0.6 percent and
reached its highest levels of 2009 after a slew of merger
activity suggested big investors still see value in the market
following this year's rebound.
Optimism about potential deals overshadowed concerns about
trade friction between the United States and China after
Washington imposed special duties on Chinese tyre imports.
China unveiled data on Tuesday showing that tyre exports
fell in the first half of a year to rebut Washington's
accusation it was flooding the U.S. market, even as both
countries moved to allay concerns about a trade war.
[]
The battered U.S. dollar edged down in Asia, falling back
towards a one-year low touched on Friday. The dollar index
<.DXY>, a gauge of its performance against six major
currencies, was down 0.1 percent at 76.596.
The pound helped drag the dollar lower, rising 0.4 percent
to $1.6640 <GBP=D4> after a report showing house prices in
England and Wales rose for the first time in two years in
August. []
Against the yen, the dollar edged up 0.2 percent to 91.10
yen <JPY=>, pulling up from the seven-month low of 90.18 yen
hit on Monday. The euro dipped 0.1 percent to $1.4615 <EUR=>
but hovered near a nine-month high.
The Australian dollar slipped after the country's central
bank felt the economy was substantially stronger than expected
at this month's policy meeting but decided there was enough
uncertainty over the outlook to argue against a rate hike,
according to meeting minutes. []
The Aussie dipped 0.2 percent to $0.8604 <AUD=D4>, just
below a one-year high.
Safe-haven government bonds lost ground as stock markets
stabilised. The benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond
yield <JP10YTN=JBTC> edged up 2 basis points to 1.310 percent,
holding in a range between 1.285 percent and 1.355 percent over
the past few weeks.
