Asian markets mostly up as Europe tension eases

HONG KONG, Nov 11 (AFP): Asian markets mostly rose Friday after Greece named a new prime minister to push through urgent reforms while Italy's borrowing costs eased as it searches for a successor to Silvio Berlusconi. A day after suffering a huge sell-off over Italy's growing debt crisis, a successful bond auction in Rome provided some respite. However, trade was cautious after growth forecasts for the eurozone were massively slashed, raising the prospect of another recession. Tokyo finished 0.16 per cent, or 13.67 points, higher at 8,514.47 and Sydney gained 1.23 per cent, or 52.4 points, to close at 4,296.5. Seoul was 2.77 per cent higher, adding 50.20 points, to end at 1,863.45, after losing almost five per cent Thursday. Hong Kong, which dived more than five per cent in the previous session, rose 0.74 per cent in the the afternoon but Shanghai dipped 0.20 per cent. Former European Central Bank vice president Lucas Papademos was named as Greece's interim prime minister, bringing a close to days of talks and providing the chance of some stability in the country. And in Italy there were reports that former EU commissioner Mario Monti would likely replace Berlusconi as prime minister as pressure mounted on Rome to get its house in order to avoid becoming the next euro state to sink. Also giving some encouragement was a fall in the yield on Italy's 10-year bonds, which soared to a record 7.4 per cent on Wednesday, a figure seen as unsustainable for it to repay its $2.6 trillion debt. On Thursday, the rate dipped to 6.873 per cent, although that figure was still dangerously high. Rome was also able to complete a successful sale of five billion euros ($6.81 billion) of 12-month treasury bills, suggesting there was still some confidence in the economy. Both Papademos and Monti are US-trained economists and are expected to embrace the reforms seen as necessary to place Greek and Italian finances on an even keel. But the fragility of the situation continues to cap sentiment. "The potential for further negative developments in Europe is keeping people cautious," said Morgan Stanley Smith Barney vice president Shannon Briggs in Sydney. "Investors aren't doing much. It's painfully slow," he told Dow Jones Newswires. The euro held up in early Tokyo trade, buying $1.3615 and 105.60 yen, slightly up from $1.3599 and 105.58 yen in New York late Thursday. The dollar was at 77.51, down from 77.65 yen. The extent of the crisis facing the region was highlighted as the European Commission said growth had stalled in 2011 and risked tipping back into contraction next year. Growth across the eurozone in 2012 would collapse to 0.5 per cent, said the forecast, a steep drop from its previous prediction of 1.8 per cent. Italy, the eurozone's third-largest economy, would virtually stagnate in 2012 with growth of just 0.1 per cent, according to the forecast. There were even concerns about France, which has huge exposure to Greek debt, with the EC saying its economy was also stagnating. The spread between benchmark 10-year French and German government bonds soared to a new record of 170.2 basis points amid speculation Paris would lose its top credit rating. The slightly better outlook in Europe was enough to push Wall Street higher, with the Dow ending up 0.96 per cent, the S&P 500 rising 0.86 per cent and the Nasdaq up 0.13 per cent. US shares were also helped by better-than-expected weekly jobs numbers, which showed new claims for unemployment benefits falling to a seven-month low of 390,000 in the week ending November 5. New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, rose 26 cents to $98.04 per barrel while Brent North Sea crude for December delivery shed eight cents to $113.63. Gold in Hong Kong traded at $1,765.85 an ounce around 0645 GMT, down from $1,769.50 late Thursday. Taipei rose 0.80 per cent, or 58.61 points, to 7,367.29. HTC rose 1.26 per cent at Tw$643.0 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 1.1 per cent higher at Tw$73.4. Manila was 0.65 per cent higher, adding 27.90 points, to 4,312.96. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. was up 0.75 per cent at 2,418 pesos while International Container Terminal Services rose 1.91 per cent to 56.15 pesos. Alliance Global Group fell 1.57 per cent to 10.12 pesos. Wellington closed flat, edging 3.14 points higher to 3,322.01. Telecom Corp. was flat on NZ$2.695, with Fletcher Building down 0.3 per cent at NZ$6.26 and Air New Zealand up 0.5 per cent to NZ$1.05.