* Nikkei gains, helped by yen weakness
* Copper rebounds, with record high back in sight
* Markets cheer upbeat U.S. data, but cautious ahead of
payrolls
(Updates prices)
By Ian Chua
SYDNEY, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks rallied on
Thursday as investors snapped up shares of big exporters after
the dollar hit two-week highs against the yen, but markets
elsewhere in Asia were more subdued ahead of the influential
U.S. non-farm payrolls report.
Copper climbed 1 percent to a high of $9,654.25 a tonne
, bringing the all-time high of $9,754 struck on
Tuesday back in sight, after an ADP report on Wednesday showed
a record 297,000 U.S. private sector jobs were created in
December.
It was the clearest signal in months that a recovery in
the world's biggest economy was shifting up a gear and
prompted analysts to raise their forecasts for the closely
watched non-farm payrolls data due on Friday.
Estimates now centre on an increase of 175,000 jobs, up
from 140,000 in an earlier Reuters survey.
While some analysts were sceptical of the size of the jump
in the ADP job report, it does follow a string of recent
upbeat U.S. data showing the economy is picking up steam.
"Markets will now wait for U.S. payrolls on Friday for
confirmation of the strong trend," said Hiroaki Osakabe, a
fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management in Tokyo. "But
investors will then focus on how the U.S. data will impact the
dollar/yen rate."
Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 1.4 percent and
closed above the psychologically important barrier of 10,500.
It ended at its best level since May 2010.
Major exporters including Canon Inc and Toyota
Motors climbed more than 1 percent.
MSCI's index for Asia Pacific stocks excluding Japan
edged up 0.1 percent, having drifted in and
out of negative territory.
Earlier this week, technical indicators showed it was
close to being overbought after a strong end-2010 rally,
making investors wary that markets were due for a pullback.
South Korea's KOSPI fell 0.2 percent, China's
Shanghai Composite index shed 0.6 percent and Hong
Kong's Hang Seng index was flat.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.2 percent
higher as some mining shares recovered from an earlier fall,
helping the index bounce off a one-month low.
Severe floods in Australia's northeast had made investors
nervous about the outlook for some company earnings.
DOLLAR FIRM
The floods have also raised worries about inflation,
underscored by a UN food agency report, which showed global
food prices hit a record high last month.
The agency said key grains could climb even further as
weather pattern give cause for concern. This could raise the
risk that countries like China and India will take further
action to tackle rising food inflation.
"Clearly with inflation pressures building up ... they
will have to increase the pace of their rate hikes. Currency
appreciation will help, but it will not be enough," said
Eugene Kim, Hong Kong-based managing director of Tribridge
Investment Partners, which manages nearly $300 million in
Asian debt.
In the currency market, the dollar rose to 83.39 yen
, reaching highs not seen since Dec. 23, while the euro
traded around $1.3150 , after falling below $1.3200 for
the first time since Dec. 29.
The dollar index , which tracks the greenback's
performance against a basket of major currencies, was little
changed on the day at 80.238, having topped out at a fresh
one-week high of 80.353.
"As long as the key jobs data on Friday is in line with
expectations, the dollar is likely keep its gains, but it
looks hard for it to climb higher as the market has already
priced in good numbers," said Hideki Hayashi, a global
economist at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> was steady in Asia, holding just
below $90.50 a barrel, having hit a high of $90.84 on
Wednesday in the wake of the U.S. data. It was within striking
distance of a 27-month high of $92.58 set in the first trading
day of the year.
(Addititional reporting by Antoni Slodkowski and Kaori Kaneko
in Tokyo, Umesh Desai in Hong Kong, Editing by Kevin Plumberg)
