Asian markets post gains

Major Indices In The Region Record Healthy Gains While Europe Opens Steady

Most of the Asian Indices end their week with a broader advance taking a clue from after an overnight progress on Wall Street. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 213.97 points to end at 12,604.45 and the S&P 500 index surged 26.85 points to 1,404.05. The Nasdaq Composite rallied 46.80 points to 2,549.94.

Japanese markets jumped today, heading toward their second straight weekly advance, as exporters gained on a weakened yen. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Average jumped 1.03% to 14,489.44 and the Topix index added 0.3% to 1,428.11.

On the economic front Japan's reserves of convertible foreign currencies, gold and International Monetary Fund special drawing rights in May were down $6.861 billion from April at $996.98. The country's foreign exchange reserves have shown only minor changes since Tokyo stopped its yen-selling intervention campaign in March 2004.

The rest of the region was mostly higher, after energy stocks bouncing back on a strong recovery in crude-oil prices to lift shares of energy companies in Sydney and in Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 0.6% to 24,402.18 and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 1.2% to 13,513.21.

China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.7% to 3,329.67, taking losses into the fourth straight session on persistent worries about large fund-raising plans of local companies.

Some investors expect Hong Kong and Shanghai stocks to be helped by speculation that data could show China's consumer price inflation falling in May.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.1% to 5,592.10 and New Zealand's NZX 50 index slipped 0.2% to 3,548.08. Taiwan's weighted index advanced 0.1% to 8,745.35. South Korean markets were closed for a holiday.

Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.2% to 3,150.98. In the afternoon trading India's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, was down by 0.6% to 15,672.88 and the broader S&P/CNX Nifty fell 0.4% to 4,659.10.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar bought 105.87 yen, compared with 105.90 yen late in New York.

July crude-oil futures rose as much as 44 cents to $128.23 a barrel in electronic trading, after soaring $5.49 to finish at $127.79 a barrel yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The rally came in the wake of a sharp fall in the dollar against most rivals, after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet hinted at a future interest-rate increase.

In Euro zone, European shares rose, as energy firms and miners got a boost from higher crude and gold prices before key U.S. jobs data scheduled to release in the evening.

Of the National indexes the German DAX 30 rose 0.8% to 6,995.30, the French CAC 40 soared 1% to 4,955.25 and the U.K. FTSE 100 climbed 1.2% to 6,059.10.

On the economic release side we had France's foreign trade deficit, which shrunk to EUR3.72 billion in April from EUR4.27, billion in March, as exports rose and imports fell.

Exports rose to EUR34.97 billion in April from EUR34.48 billion the previous month, the office said. Imports fell to EUR38.68 billion in April from EUR38.75 billion in March.

Last year, France posted a record trade deficit of EUR39.17 billion, compared with a deficit of EUR28.24 billion in 2006.

The French trade minister blamed last year's record deficit on the strength of the euro and the slowdown of the U.S. economy. However, France's trade balance has been deteriorating with countries that belong to the euro zone, as well as those outside the currency bloc.

Looking ahead for the day is scheduled to release industrial production data for the Germany, which will be followed by unemployment rate for the Canada. In the evening we have a series of economic data from the U.S. It will start with average hourly earning which will be followed by consumer credit and wholesale inventories. However the focus of the evening will be on unemployment rate that will be accompanied by the non-farm payrolls for the month of May.