(Updates prices, adds fresh quotes)
By Tom Miles
HONG KONG, April 15 (Reuters) - Investors jostled for
position on Tuesday as stockmarkets braced for a slew of earnings
from U.S. banks, with some heading for the refuge of bonds and
gold and others betting that the worst is already priced in.
Oil prices hit a record high, helped by a weak dollar, which
has given up gains made on supportive remarks from the Group of
Seven nations at the weekend.
The dollar dithered in a narrow range in cautious Asian
trade, standing at 101.23 yen <JPY=> by 0410 GMT, while the euro
traded at $1.583 <EUR=>, barely changed from Monday's close.
"The broad weak dollar trend hasn't changed, and the market
is returning to economic data and earnings results this week for
clues, with the bias towards dollar selling," said a senior
dealer at an European bank in Tokyo.
The week should be littered with clues since U.S. banks are
due to unveil their latest quarterly results, which could mean
turning over more rocks with subprime nasties underneath.
The tone was set on Monday by Wachovia Corp <WB.N>, the No. 4
U.S. bank, which posted a surprise first-quarter loss, prompting
it to raise $7 billion of capital, slash its dividend and cut
jobs []. For a preview of other U.S. bank earnings,
please click on []
"After the news about Wachovia, investors couldn't actively
buy financials, but they now appear somewhat willing to buy on
dips as they are factoring in weak results from the sector," said
Zenshiro Mizuno, a senior managing director of the equity trading
division at Marusan Securities in Japan.
"Still, trade will likely be quiet as investors want to see
results from banks such as Citigroup."
NIKKEI EDGES UP
Japan's Nikkei average <> clawed back 0.5 percent after
falling 3 percent on Monday, while MSCI's measure of other Asia
Pacific stocks <.MIAPJ0000PUS> was up 0.3 percent.
One market participant in Japan said investors were returning
to blue-chips such as Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd <4502.T> and
Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T>, which rose 0.8 percent after striking
a year low on Monday.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index <> rose 1.2
percent as resources firms gained from strong oil and metals
prices.
With the wind behind the dollar buying dropping noticeably,
dollar-denominated oil prices hit record highs, helped by weather
problems in Mexico that will restrict supplies.
U.S. light crude for May delivery <CLc1> rose 65 cents to
$112.41 a barrel, beating its previous record by 20 cents, while
London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 61 cents to $110.45 a barrel,
surpassing Monday's $110.01 high.
"It has some self-fulfilling momentum at the moment," said
David Moore, commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank of
Australia. "But there are no specific new fundamental factors
that should drive it higher from yesterday."
Gold <XAU=>, a safe-haven asset that often tracks oil's
gains, inched up to $927.50/8.30 an ounce as investors weighed up
the chances of the months of selling in equities continuing.
"Market participants are still very much on the long side. We
need to see fresh buying from the funds to bid gold up to above
$940," said William Kwan, a dealer at Phillip Futures in
Singapore.
Like equity markets, bond investors were cautious ahead of a
potentially rollercoaster U.S. earnings season, and Japanese
government bonds backtracked slightly from Monday's gains and
prices fell in anticipation of a 600 billion yen ($5.9 billion)
auction of 30-year bonds later in the session.
June 10-year futures <2JGBv1> dropped 0.46 points to 139.44,
falling back near a one-month low of 139.13 struck last week.
(Additional reporting by Geraldine Chua in SYDNEY, Annika
Breidthardt and Lewa Pardomuan in SINGAPORE, Aiko Hayashi and
Chikako Mogi in TOKYO; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)
