Asian stocks rebound, Seoul hurt by N. Korea fears

Hong Kong—Asian markets rebounded on Thursday after a three-day sell-off as renewed fears over eurozone debt were soothed with the European Central Bank indicating it could step in if needed.

However, ongoing jitters over the strength of the global economy kept a lid on sentiment while geopolitical concerns weighed amid North Korean plans for a rocket launch.

Tokyo added 0.70 percent, or 66.05 points, to 9,524.79 and Sydney rose 0.81 percent, or 34.4 points, to 4,280.5.

Hong Kong was 0.93 percent higher, adding 186.65 points to close at 20,327.32 while Shanghai gained 1.82 percent, or 41.94 points, to 2,350.86.

Seoul fell 0.39 percent, or 7.78 points, to 1,986.63.

The gains bring an end to recent selling pressure sparked by weak US jobs data last week, another set of poor Chinese economic figures and fresh anxiety that Spain could be engulfed in a Greece-style debt crisis.

A slump in Asia on Wednesday followed Wall Street and Europe after bond yields for Madrid shot to highs not seen since December on fears recent austerity measures could send it deeper into recession.

But investors took heart from ECB board member Benoit Coeure, who suggested that markets were overestimating the extent of Spain’s problems and did not rule out additional purchases of sovereign debt by the central bank.

Spain’s benchmark 10-year bond yields eased to 5.87 percent from 5.94 percent.

Stocks in New York and Europe also bounced back on Wednesday.

London’s FTSE 100 index added 0.70 percent, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 rose 1.03 percent and the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.62 percent, while the Madrid Ibex 35 was 1.93 percent higher.

On Wall Street the Dow closed up 0.70 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.74 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.84 percent.

But Mitul Kotecha, strategist at Credit Agricole, warned that renewed debt worries “will not fade quickly while growth concerns have been reignited by last week’s weaker than expected US jobs report”.

The euro edged back up on the news and bought $1.3122 in early Tokyo trade, from $1.3108 late Wednesday in New York while it also rose to 106.36 yen from 106.00 yen. The dollar was at 81.06 yen against 80.86 yen.

On Wednesday in Asia the euro was buying $1.3101 and 105.90 yen as traders shifted away from the higher risk unit.

Regional markets were also nervous as North Korea prepared to fire a long-range rocket which it says will place a satellite in orbit for peaceful research purposes.

Western critics see the launch as a thinly veiled ballistic missile test, and the United Nations has banned such tests by Pyongyang.

Dealers are on edge as they await the launch, which is due to take place between April 12 and 16 to commemorate the centenary of the birth of North Korea’s founding leader Kim Il-Sung.

“Geopolitical risk could ripple through the markets quite a bit. Some are taking a wait-and-see mode,” Yoshihiro Okumura, general manager of research at Chibagin Asset Management in Tokyo, told Dow Jones Newswires.

On oil markets New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in May was up 41 cents to $103.11 per barrel while Brent North Sea crude for May fell 12 cents to $120.06 in the afternoon.

Gold was at $1,654.45 an ounce at 1109 GMT, compared with $1,654.75 late Wednesday.

In other markets:

— Singapore closed up 31.70 points or 1.08 percent at 2,978.14.

Palm oil producer Wilmar International gained 1.25 percent to Sg$4.85 while United Overseas Bank was up 0.33 percent at Sg$18.31.

— Taipei ended flat, adding 6.25 points to 7,662.92.

Hon Hai Precision rose 0.44 percent to Tw$114.0 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.24 percent higher at Tw$82.6.

— Manila closed 0.58 percent, or 29.34 points, higher at 5,046.78.

SM Investments gained 0.31 percent to 646 pesos while Philippine Long Distance Telephone was up 0.07 percent at 2,622 pesos.

JG Summit Holdings rose 6.29 percent to 31.25 pesos.

— Wellington added 0.63 percent, or 21.70 points, to 3,487.09.

Contact Energy gained 1.1 percent to NZ$4.83 and Telecom was up 0.6 percent at NZ$2.51 while Fletcher Building added 2.2 percent to NZ$6.15.

— Jakarta rose 0.23 percent, or 9.53 points, to 4,139.54.

— Kuala Lumpur added 0.26 percent, or 4.10 points, to 1,601.27.

Tenaga Nasional gained 2.2 percent to 6.51 ringgit, Axiata Group rose 1.1 percent to 5.40 ringgit, while Hong Leong Financial Group slipped 0.8 percent to 12.30 ringgit.

— Bangkok climbed 1.30 percent, or 14.96 points, to 1,169.45.

Banpu dropped 1.04 percent to 572.00 baht, while PTT Plc climbed 0.88 percent to 344.00 baht.

— Mumbai rose 0.77 percent, or 133.22 points, to 17,332.62 on hopes the central bank will cut interest rates at its policy meeting next week.

Sterlite, the local arm of global resources firm Vedanta, climbed 3.91 percent to 106.25 rupees while leading passenger car maker Maruti Suzuki advanced 3.13 percent to 1,312.6.

Shares of struggling Indian airlines however fell after the cabinet deferred a much-awaited decision to allow foreign airlines to pick up stakes in the domestic carriers.

Kingfisher Airlines slid 2.52 percent to 19.35 rupees while rival Jet Airways ended down 2.78 percent to 348.55 and SpiceJet fell 1.90 percent.