* Asian stocks gain as Apple news spurs tech shares
* Strong earnings underline view global economy is
improving
* Euro remains weak as Greece's debt problems weigh
* Aussie dollar firms up against a range of currencies
By Umesh Desai
HONG KONG, April 21 (Reuters) - A technology-inspired rally
lifted Asian stocks on Wednesday, after Apple Inc <AAPL.O>
unveiled results that blew past Wall Street's expectations,
while the euro suffered more falls on fears over debt-stricken
Greece.
Tech-heavy markets such as Japan, Taiwan and South Korea
were among the region's best performers as Apple's earnings
report and strong sales forecast backed views consumer demand
is recovering.
Apple's shares surged more than 5 percent to an all-time
high of $257.30 in after-hours trade. [
European shares were also seen rising in an Apple-fuelled
rally -- Futures for STOXX Europe 50 <STXEc1>, Germany's DAX
<FDXc1> and France's CAC 40 <FCEc1> were 0.3 to 0.4 percent
higher.
Before Apple released its numbers, U.S. stocks rose by as
much as 0.8 percent in the regular session as higher oil prices
lifted energy shares and as investors saw generally stronger
company results as a sign that the global economy was
recovering. [.N]
The euro, which has been slipping since last week on
concerns about Greece, fell 0.1 percent to $1.3420 and is now
in danger of revisiting its March low of $1.3267 sometime soon.
Greek yields hit 12-year highs as Athens prepared to launch
talks on an EU/IMF bailout package aimed at rescuing Greece
from a debt crisis rocking the euro zone.
The Canadian dollar <CAD=D4> rose to a near two-year high
after the Bank of Canada signalled the day before an interest
rate rise may come as early as June, and it climbed 0.2 percent
against the yen, outperforming other crosses.
The generally upbeat sentiment about demand sparked a rally
in commodities and global growth-linked currencies such as the
Australian dollar <AUD=D4>, which was strong against a range of
currencies, including the euro, where it tested record highs.
Oil rose past $84 a barrel, buoyed by optimism about the
global economic recovery and an unexpected drop in U.S. fuel
inventories. That optimism helped gold <XAU=> which added to
its ongoing recovery from a near two-week low hit on Monday.
"If people are going out and buying iPhones, Macs and iPads
the hope is the U.S. consumer is going to start consuming
again," said Andrew Sullivan, a sales trader with broker
MainFirst Securities, adding this was also boosting shares of
big exporters.
"That probably means the recent trend of increased U.S.
savings is possibly not as strong as people had worried about,"
he said, referring to fears that the U.S. economic recovery
might be shaky until shoppers started hitting the stores again.
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose 1 percent, with the regional tech index
<.MIAPJIT00PUS> up 2.2 percent.
Industrial shares <.MIAPJIN00PUS> and raw materials stocks
<.MIAPJMT00PUS> were the other outperformers on signs of
stronger demand, gaining a little over 1 percent.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei average <> registered its biggest
one-day percentage gain in over a monnth as chip-related stocks
like Toshiba Corp <6502.T> leapt. The yen's decline against the
dollar helped the export sector in general. Toshiba gained
nearly 3 percent.
The Japanese yen <JPY=> remained subdued at 93.29 per
dollar, after falling 0.8 percent on Tuesday.
The yen, which tends to gain in times of greater risk
aversion, had risen to a near one-month high of 91.58 per
dollar earlier this week as global stocks retreated on concerns
that they had risen too far, too fast in recent sessions.
Taiwan stocks <> logged their best one-day percentage
gain in three weeks and South Korea's benchmark index <>
closed at a 22-month high.
The euro <EUR=> edged down to $1.3420, from $1.3443 late in
New York on Tuesday, when it fell 0.3 percent. It fell 0.2
percent against the yen.
Ten days of talks will begin on Wednesday on the
belt-tightening measures Greece must take until 2012, the
European Commission said, paving the way for the swift payout
of up to 30 billion euros of euro zone emergency aid if Athens
asks for it. []
The yield spread between Greek and German 10-year bonds
widened to a record 489 basis points from 468 bps on Monday,
according to Tradeweb. []
(Editing by Kim Coghill and Ron Popeski)
