UPDATE:Asian Shares Up On Wall St Cues;AXA Asia In Limelight

(Adds information, quotes, updates/adds market levels)

By Matthew Allen and Wei-Zhe Tan

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Asian stock markets were mostly higher Tuesday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to a new closing high for the year Monday. In Sydney, AXA Asia Pacific was trading higher a day after the firm rejected a combined multibillion dollar takeover bid from AXA SA and AMP.

Investors in the U.S. were cheered by the absence of signals from the meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers on exiting loose monetary policies. That in turn boosted risk appetite, dented the U.S. dollar and buoyed commodity prices.

"Just when risky assets started to look vulnerable, policymakers have come out to reassure investors that the world is safe for risk," Barclays Capital analysts said in a note to clients.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 1.6% with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 1.0% higher and South Korea's Kospi Composite up 0.6%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 0.8%. DJIA futures were 9 points lower in screen trade. Stock markets were getting a lift as "concerns about an immediate exit from economic stimulus programs seemed to have eased somewhat after the poor U.S. employment data," said Hwang Bin-ah at Kyobo Securities in Seoul.

China shares were up slightly with the Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.3%. Elsewhere, Singapore's Straits Times Index was 0.6% higher while Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was up 0.6%, and Taiwan shares rose 0.6%. Philippine stocks were up 2.0%, Indonesia shares added 0.6% while Thailand shares tacked on 0.5%. New Zealand's NZX-50 was 0.1% higher.

Financials across the region were mostly higher after their U.S. counterparts helped pace the rise on Wall Street Monday.

National Australia Bank was up 1.2%, Commonwealth Bank rose 0.5%, and in Seoul, Shinhan Financial advanced 2.0% while Woori Finance tacked on 1.6%. In Tokyo, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group was up 3.6%, Nomura Holdings 3.6% higher and Mizuho Financial was up 2.8%.

Energy stocks were gaining after crude oil futures rebounded Monday as the U.S. dollar weakened amid rising equities and as Tropical Storm Ida disrupted production in the Gulf of Mexico.

Light sweet crude for December delivery settled $2.00, or 2.6%, higher at $79.43 per barrel on Nymex, and was recently down 35 cents at $79.08 on Globex.

Woodside Petroleum was 2.0% higher in Australia, SK Energy pushed up 1.8% in Seoul and Inpex was 0.5% higher in Tokyo. Chinese oil companies were also up as the country raised gasoline and diesel prices with Petrochina climbing 0.2%.

Metals stocks were enjoying good gains in Asia as the upward march for commodities prices continued in tandem with the U.S. dollar's weak run against the euro.

Rio Tinto was up 2.1%, BHP Billiton was 2.1% higher and Oz Minerals gained 2.1% in Australia. In China, Shanghai-listed Baosteel was up 0.5% while in the Philippines, Philex Mining surged 12.7% and Century Peak Metals added 8.3%.

In Sydney, AXA Asia Pacific was trading 2.1% higher at A$5.82, a day after the firm rejected a combined cash and equity $11.0 billion takeover bid from AXA SA and AMP which valued the firm around A$5.34 per share. Both Citigroup and Merrill Lynch analysts said a revised offer of around A$6 per share was needed to get shareholder support.

"We would be surprised if this is the end of the matter, rather we expect at some stage to see a revised offer which should find greater favor with the independent AXA APH directors," said an analyst at Citigroup.

In Seoul, banks were leading the market higher, with Hana Financial standing out, up 5.0%, partly due to a drop in Korean banks' ratio of non-performing loans.

Samsung Electronics was up 0.7% after the company said it expects no impact on its business from a ruling in the U.S. ordering it to stop selling some of its liquid crystal display devices in the U.S. The U.S. International Trade Commission Monday ruled that Samsung infringed four patents of Sharp Corp. (6753.TO) relating to LCDs and said the Korean company should cease selling devices in the U.S. that infringed the patents.

In foreign exchange markets the U.S. dollar was steady against riskier units after falls Monday.

The euro was buying $1.4982 compared with $1.4990 late in New York Monday and Y134.75 compared with Y134.90. The U.S. dollar was at Y89.92 compared with Y89.99 while the Australian dollar was at US$0.9279.

"The (U.S.) dollar is likely to remain under pressure due to interest rate differentials, momentum, and lack of official concern (about dollar weakness from the G-20 meeting over the weekend)," said Brown Brothers Harriman in a report.

Spot gold was trading higher at $1,102.60 per troy ounce, up $1.20 from the New York close Monday.

The London Mercantile Exchange copper contract was down $32 at $6,570 per ton from the PM kerb.

Lead December Japanese government bond futures were 0.04 point higher at 137.38 but analysts expect the upside to be capped as traders await the 40-year JGB tender results, due later in the day, as well as on oversupply concerns.

"Even if the U.S. Treasury market shows its solidness, JGBs are expected to remain top-heavy," said Deutsche Securities strategist Makoto Yamashita in Tokyo. "In the long run, uncertainty over JGB issuance plans regarding the supplementary budget and next fiscal year's government spending will likely" remain as the main theme for the bond market.

The 10-year cash JGB yield was flat at 1.470% after hitting a nearly 5-month high at 1.485%.

-Matthew Allen, Dow Jones Newswires; +65-6415-4140; matthew.allen@dowjones.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 09, 2009 23:11 ET (04:11 GMT)


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