Asia stocks driven higher after Europe bond issue

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Asia stocks driven higher after Europe bond issue

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Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 1.1 percent and South Korea's Kospi index edged up 0.2 percent.

13 January,2012 11:21 am

Asian stock markets rose Friday, driven higher by a successful bond issue in Europe that eased worries over the continents sovereign debt crisis.Benchmark oil rose to nearly $100 per barrel and the dollar fell against the euro but was steady against the yen.Japans Nikkei 225 index gained 1.1 percent to 8,479.24 and South Koreas Kospi index edged up 0.2 percent at 1,867.17. Australias S&P ASX 200 was 0.4 percent higher at 4,195.90. Benchmarks in Singapore, Indonesia, India and Malaysia also rose.But shares in Hong Kong and mainland China dipped following the release Thursday of Chinese inflation data that showed rising prices eased only slightly in December, to 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent in November. Analysts had hoped to see more improvement.China is less likely to ease monetary policy, which would help growth, so long as authorities must remain on guard against rising consumer prices.The market expected below 4 percent inflation, said Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong. What we see is inflation actually is under control, but ... not going down as fast as the market expected. So maybe another easing policy will be a little bit delayed.Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index fell slightly to 19,089.46. But mainland shares were sharply down, with the Shanghai Composite Index sliding 1.9 percent to 2,230.19 and the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index plummeting 3.7 percent to 844.07.Raw materials and industrial companies advanced, following their U.S. counterparts higher. Japanese heavy equipment maker Komatsu Ltd. jumped 4 percent and Hitachi Construction Machinery gained 3.6 percent.Energy Resources of Australia soared 6 percent and Paladin Energy Ltd., an Australian uranium miner, gained 3.1 percent. But shares in Australias QBE Insurance group dropped 3.1 percent, after the company warned its earnings could halve following a spate of natural disasters in 2011.South Korean tech shares posted solid advances, with Samsung Electronics Co., the countrys largest company, advancing 1.1 percent and Hynix Semiconductor, a global leader in chip-making, surging 2.9 percent. Its largest banking group, Woori Financial Holdings Co., jumped 3.7 percent.On Wall Street, stocks ended higher after oil prices dropped below $100 per barrel for the first time this year. Oil fell on rumors that Europe will delay an embargo on Iran. Crude plunged $2 a barrel in just eight minutes, ending at $99.The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.2 percent to end at 12,471.02. The S&P 500 finished up 0.2 percent at 1,295.50. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.5 percent to 2,724.70.Strong bond auctions in Italy and Spain also pushed stocks higher. Italy was able to sell one-year bonds at a rate of just 2.735 percent, less than half the 5.95 percent rate it had to pay last month. Spain was able to raise double the amount of money it had sought to raise in its own bond sale as demand for its debt was strong.Investors have been worried that Italy and Spain might get dragged into the regions debt crisis. Greece, Ireland and Portugal have been forced to get relief from their lenders after their borrowing costs spiked to levels the countries could no longer afford.Benchmark oil for February delivery rose 24 cents to $99.34 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract tumbled $2 to finish at $99.10 per barrel in New York on Thursday.In currency trading, the euro rose to $1.2836 from $1.2827 late Thursday in New York. The euro hit a 16-month low of $1.2661 on Wednesday after Germany predicted that its economy shrank in the last three months of last year.The dollar was unchanged at 76.76 yen.