* Asia stocks up about 1 pct, pull away from 1-month low
* Dollar, gold and government bonds lose ground
* Eyes on quick action by incoming Obama administration
* Activity subdued before U.S. national holiday
By Eric Burroughs
HONG KONG, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Asian stocks pushed higher on
Monday and the dollar lost ground as investors looked for U.S.
President-elect Barack Obama to quickly roll out hefty economic
stimulus spending and a revived plan to buy bad bank assets.
Obama is set to take office on Tuesday following a U.S.
national holiday on Monday, and many investors have hoped for
weeks that he will act aggressively to try to pull the economy
out of its deep, year-long recession.
A top Obama adviser, David Axelrod, said the incoming
administration is considering setting up a government-run bank
to acquire bad assets -- the original purpose of the $700
billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. []
Stocks have clawed back after the U.S. government injected
$20 billion of capital into Bank of America <BAC.N> last week
and offered debt guarantees to help its take-over of Merrill
Lynch <MER.N>.
Barclays Plc <BARC.L> responded to a 25 percent tumble in
its shares on Friday by saying it expects to report a pre-tax
profit for 2008. The move came as news reports said Britain is
poised to unveil a nearly $300 billion toxic debt guarantee for
its banks later on Monday, its second bank rescue package in
four months.
A year and a half into the credit crisis, renewed fears
that major financial institutions will be forced to write down
billions of dollars more in assets and raise significant
capital drove many major equity indexes to one-month lows last
week.
"The focus is now on the inauguration of the U.S.
president. Hopes are growing again as economic stimulus steps
will likely be bigger than previously thought, and may include
additional measures to shore up banks," said Takahiko Murai,
general manager of equities at Nozomi Securities in Tokyo.
Investors are bracing for more dismal news from companies
as quarterly earnings season kicks into high gear, which could
deal another blow to the rebound in stocks and emerging market
currencies from lows hit late last year.
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose 0.9 percent and is up 21 percent from a
five-year low hit in November. The MSCI index had been up as
much as 37 percent from that low early in January.
Japan's Nikkei average <> gained 0.3 percent, helped
by a broad dip in the yen that gave a boost to shares of major
exporting companies. Shares of Honda Motor Corp <7267.T> were
the second-biggest gainer in the Nikkei.
South Korea's KOSPI <> rose 1.4 percent, leading gains
in the region as battered technology shares advanced on hopes
the industry downturn may have hit a bottom.
South Korean markets largely shrugged off comments from a
U.S. expert that North Korea had "weaponised" enough plutonium
stocks to produce four to five nuclear weapons. []
But Hong Kong's Hang Seng index <> slipped 0.1 percent,
dragged down by a 3.7 percent drop in index heavyweight bank
HSBC <0005.HK> on continued fears it may have to raise more
capital and cut its dividend.
Highlighting the slight improvement in risk appetite, the
benchmark iTraxx Asia ex-Japan credit derivatives index
<0#ITAIGMPBMK=> narrowed to 293 basis points from 320, traders
said.
SAFE-HAVENS RETREAT
Traditional safe havens -- the dollar, government bonds and
gold -- backtracked as investors shifted into riskier assets.
The euro edged up 0.3 percent to $1.3350 <EUR=>, up from a
one-month low near $1.3025 hit last week. The dollar was up 0.4
percent versus the yen at 91.05 yen <JPY=>, getting a lift from
the yen's broad retreat.
The Australian dollar jumped 1.3 percent against the yen to
61.85 yen <AUDJPY=R>, despite a retreat in commodity prices.
The Aussie tends to move in close tandem with metals because
the country is a big exporter.
Gold prices <XAU=> fell $1.85 an ounce to $840.00, while
U.S. crude oil for February delivery <CLc1> shed 30 cents to
$36.21 a barrel.
Japanese government bonds also pulled back. The benchmark
10-year yield <JP10YTN=JBTC> climbed 3 basis points to 1.245
percent. Longer-dated bonds were hurt by dealers selling to
hedge their books before a 30-year auction later in the week.
But the two-year yield <JP2YTN=JBTC> edged down a basis
point to 0.350 percent, a three-year low that caused the yield
curve to steepen.
"One key is whether the stock market will show signs of
bottoming out as the Obama administration gets started," said
Naomi Hasegawa, a senior fixed-income strategist for Mitsubishi
UFJ Securities.
(Additional reporting by Aiko Hayashi and Masayuki Kitano
in Tokyo, Jungyoun Park in Seoul and Jun Ebias in Hong Kong;
Editing by Kim Coghill)
