* Asian stocks buoyed by U.S. jobs data
* Asian currencies kept in check by U.S. dollar strength
* Oil slips as investors take profits
By Susan Fenton
HONG KONG, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on Monday
after better-than-expected U.S. jobs data raised hopes the
United States can lead the world out of recession, but oil
prices retreated as investors took profits and focused on the
U.S. dollar.
The U.S. jobs report on Friday, which showed
fewer-than-feared job losses in July and a surprise dip in the
unemployment rate [], underpinned equities across
Asia after pushing the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJIA> up
1.2 percent.
A rise in Japanese machinery orders in July for the first
time in four months added to momentum in Tokyo stocks, pushing
the benchmark Nikkei index <.225> to a 10-month high.
However, analysts said a sustained recovery in machinery
orders, a leading indicator of capital spending, was far from
assured [].
The MSCI Index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> was up by just over 1 percent but was still off
11-month peaks seen last week. The index has surged 78 percent
since a rebound in global equities began on March 9.
The yen <JPY=> was steady after the machinery orders data
and news of a bigger-than-expected Japanese current account
surplus for June, but along with other Asian currencies was
kept in check by renewed interest in the U.S. dollar in the
wake of the jobs data.
The greenback's strength sent oil prices slipping back
towards $70 a barrel, after they touched a five-week high of
$72.84 on Friday, as investors took profits. U.S. crude futures
were off 12 cents in early trade at $70.81 per barrel.
"The U.S. payrolls data would have been supportive for
crude, but investors are now focusing on the strength in the
U.S. dollar," said David Moore commodities analyst at the
Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
OPEC President Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos, signalled on
Sunday that oil producers were unlikely to cut output when they
meet next month, saying prices were not bad at current levels
[].
Shares of Japan's largest chemical company Mitsubishi
Chemical Holdings <4188.T> jumped more than 5 percent on a
report it is in talks to acquire resin maker Mitsubishi Rayon
<3404.T> for up to $2.1 billion []. Mitsubishi Rayon
was untraded due to a glut of orders on the report.
Japan's top tyre maker Bridgestone <5108.T> posted a
second-quarter operating loss but its shares surged 5.7 percent
as the company raised its full-year profit forecast
[].
In Seoul, shares gave up most early gains as investors
began taking profits on blue chips given a 14 percent rally in
the KOSPI index <> since mid-July.
DOLLAR KEEPS GAINS
The U.S. dollar retained broad gains made on the back of
Friday's jobs report.
The dollar index <.DXY>, which measures the U.S. currency
against a basket of others, was 0.07 percent lower at 78.913,
having jumped over 1 percent on Friday.
The euro was at $1.4184 <EUR=>, little changed from late
Friday levels in New York.
The dollar also clung onto its gains on the yen <JPY=>,
trading at 97.39 yen from 97.48 yen late on Friday when it
surged more than 2 percent.
Bullish economic data out of Asia and the United States in
the past week could raise concern in equity markets that
interest rates could head higher earlier than previously
thought.
However, analysts expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to dampen
talk of an early rate rise after its two-day meeting ends on
Wednesday. []
Those expectations put pressure on U.S. Treasuries while
Japanese government bonds were depressed by the rise in
machinery orders and Japanese stocks.
Investors will also be looking for more clues on the U.S.
economic outlook in a flood of reports this week including
chain store sales on Tuesday, U.S. trade data for June on
Wednesday and July retail sales on Thursday. July consumer
prices, industrial production and consumer sentiment for August
will all be released on Friday. <ECONUS>
Amid persistently weak consumer demand in major Western
markets, many export-reliant Asian economies have pinned their
hopes on a rapid recovery in China.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said over the weekend that
fiscal and monetary stimulus would remain in place, amid some
concerns that asset bubbles may be forming as economic growth
snaps back. [].
Expectations that a slew of economic data out of China on
Tuesday will affirm the world's third-biggest economy is on a
firm recovery path pushed Shanghai commodity prices higher and
underpinned shares in Shanghai and Hong Kong, where the Hang
Seng Index <> jumped 2.2 percent.
