STOCKS NEWS ASIA
Rising US dollar may lift Asian markets
Reuters
First Posted 08:11:00 07/04/2008
SYDNEY -- Asian shares may open firmer on Friday, with exporters such as Japan's Honda Motor Co. likely to gain as the yen weakened against the dollar.
The dollar rallied on Thursday after payroll data suggested the US job market and economy are not as dire as many investors had feared.
Relief that the June payroll data was not as weak as some had feared also buoyed the Dow Jones industrial average on Thursday, a day after the blue-chip average entered a bear market.
However, the Nasdaq composite index fell after graphics chip maker Nvidia slashed its outlook, citing global market weakness. That raised worries about the outlook for the computer industry.
Worries about the economic impact of high oil prices are likely to persist after crude oil rushed to a fresh record of over $145 a barrel on Thursday, extending a rally that has added 50 percent to prices this year.
Asian stocks listed on Wall Street rose 0.6 percent overnight, while the MSCI's measure of Asia Pacific stocks excluding Japan lost 2.1 percent on Thursday.
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