* Euro climbs from four-year lows, Asia stocks up 0.8 pct
* Risk/return slightly favours buying value
* Focus on Chinese data, Trichet comments later in the week
* Global equity valuations at lowest since March 2009
By Kevin Plumberg
HONG KONG, June 8 (Reuters) - The euro bounced from a
four-year low and Asian stocks edged up on Tuesday as traders
paused a selloff of riskier assets ahead of Chinese economic
data and a European Central Bank meeting later in the week.
Major European stock futures were up as much as 0.4 percent
<STXEc1> and U.S. stock futures rose 1 percent <SPc1>, with
equity markets consolidating globally after Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke offered supportive comments for the euro
and said the U.S. economy had enough momentum to avoid a
"double-dip" recession. []
Fears about a spreading European sovereign debt crisis, a
slowdown in China's robust growth and a weak U.S. job market
have combined to sap investors' willingness to take risks for
higher returns, prompting them to dump equities, high-yield
bonds, the euro and emerging market currencies.
The euro has fallen 12 percent so far in the second quarter
-- on track for the biggest quarterly decline since being
launched in 1999 -- and global equities are the cheapest since
the latest bull market started in March 2009.
The pace of decline has enticed some buyers to sift through
the market, with an eye for value.
Japan's Nikkei <> share average rose 0.2 percent while
the MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan index <.MIAPJ0000PUS> added 0.7
percent. The ex-Japan index has lost some 12 percent so far
this year.
"We're seeing cherry-picking of shares today. Caution
pervades after the U.S. market's substantial losses and
continued foreign selling, but investors are scooping up some
shares that they're bullish on in the longer-term," said Kim
Jeong-hoon, a market analyst at Korea Investment & Securities
in Seoul.
The euro climbed 0.5 percent to $1.1975 <EUR=> as some
dealers covered their bets against the currency, lifting it up
from a four-year low of $1.1875 plumbed overnight.
Bernanke said European leaders were committed to ensuring
the survival of the euro and have the means to support every
heavily indebted member of the currency union. []
After a policy meeting on Thursday, ECB President
Jean-Claude Trichet will likely face tough questioning at a
news conference about liquidity provisions in the euro zone,
the stability of the European financial system and details
about the central bank's surprise government bond buying
programme. []
The Australian dollar, a favourite of investors because of
its relatively high interest rate, rose 1.3 percent to
US$0.8203 <AUD=>, retracing almost all of Monday's losses.
FINDING BARGAINS
The Nikkei also benefited from short covering as a key
support level held in the face of early selling. The benchmark
suffered its biggest one-day fall in 14 months on Monday.
"Though pension funds are likely to emerge to buy at the
lows, even retail investors are starting to get a bit spooked
at this point, so whether they'll buy or not is key," said
Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities in
Tokyo.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index <> was up 0.2 percent, with
gains in index-heavyweight HSBC <0005.HK> winning out over
small losses in other banks and land developers.
Short-selling of Hong Kong-listed equities dropped to 8.4
percent from 10.4 percent of trading volume on Monday, a dealer
said. Banks are the most shorted sector, followed by real
estate.
Valuations of global equities have come down quickly in the
last several weeks, but analysts appear divided over whether
the market is bottoming out. The MSCI index of world equities
is trading at 11.4 times its expected 12-month earnings, the
lowest since March 2009.
The uncertain global economic outlook could have an impact
on earnings forecasts, though economists as a whole have not
changed their growth predictions in a big way.
Asian investors are awaiting a flurry of data from China
this week after reports last month indicated growth may have
peaked in the world's third-largest economy.
Though the number of property sales in big Chinese cities
is decreasing, likely pointing to an easing in price pressures,
other indicators do not reflect a massive slowdown in the
world's fastest growing economy or its demand for imported
goods. []
On the contrary, Taiwan's exports to China in May rose 66
percent on year-on-year basis, indicating sustained demand from
a key trade market.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield <US10YT=RR>
rebounded to 3.20 percent after finishing trade in New York
around 3.15 percent.
Still, in the last two months the yield has tumbled 65
basis points, squashed by investors exiting risky trades and
buying Treasuries, particularly late-dated maturities. The
spread between 10-year and 2-year yields has narrowed 37 basis
points since April.
The sliding U.S. dollar put some upward pressure on crude
prices. The July contract <CLc1> was up 0.7 percent at $71.90 a
barrel.
(Additional reporting by Elaine Lies in TOKYO and Jungyoun
Park in SEOUL)
(Editing by Kim Coghill)
