GLOBAL MARKETS-Euro gains, but Portugal debt auction looms

                                
 * Euro higher, but caution likely ahead of Portugal debt 
auction
                                
 * Asia stocks rise across the board
                                
 * Gold stronger on euro zone fears

                                
 By Nick Macfie	
                                
 SINGAPORE, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The euro rose against the 
dollar on Wednesday, along with Asian stocks, but caution 
towards the currency is likely to set in ahead of key bond 
sales by highly indebted euro zone members Portugal and Spain.	
                                
 Currency traders have their eyes on Portugal's first debt 
auction of the year later in the day, when it is due to tap 
bond investors for around 1.5 billion euros, while Spain is 
seeking up to 3 billion euros on Thursday.	
                                
 Markets are keen to see if they will be able to fund 
themselves at a sustainable cost or be forced to turn to the 
European Union and IMF for financial aid.	
                                
 But the common currency was still enjoying some reprieve 
after euro zone sources said the region's finance ministers 
were likely next week to consider the option of raising the 
effective lending capacity of the currency's bloc's rescue 
fund as part of efforts to calm jittery markets. [ID:nLDE70A1RM]	
                                
 This followed Japan's promise to support an upcoming euro  
zone bond sale and talk that the European Central Bank bought 
debt to help stabilise markets.	
                                
 The euro was trading around $1.3015 to the dollar. 
On Monday, the euro plumbed a four-month trough around $1.2871.	
                                
  	
                                
"The Portuguese (debt) auction will probably go quite well 
and that'll likely give the euro a bump up ... temporarily," 
said Joseph Capurso, a strategist at Commonwealth Bank, late 
on Tuesday.  	
                                
"The bottom line is they're going to be paying something  
like 7 percent on their 10-year debt and that's probably more  
than they can afford. There is a very high chance they'll have 
 to seek some sort of assistance from European partners and  
that'll push the euro back down again."	
                                
 Asian shares were higher on the back of gains on Wall 
Street and solid earnings reports with Tokyo's benchmark 
Nikkei index up 0.5 percent at an eight-month high. 
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks ex-Japan 
was up 0.3 percent.	
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.3 percent 
on Tuesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.4 
percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.3 percent.	
                                
 Crude oil prices <CLc1> climbed above $91 a barrel as a 
key Alaskan pipeline remained shut and on colder weather, 
lifting shares of energy producers but limiting gains of 
transportation and consumer-related stocks.	
                                
 Gold rose more than $5 to $1,385.36 an ounce, below 
its historical high of around $1,430 struck in December but 
still buoyed by high oil prices and the euro zone crisis, both 
of which help promote gold's image as a safe haven.	
 (Additional reporting by Ian Chua in Sydney; Editing by Alex 
Richardson)	
 
	
 
                                
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