Asian stocks edge up as Greece tensions ease

Crude flies above $81, risky assets have a fantastic Friday

The movement in the Asian stocks turned out to be fairly resilient in the face of abating worries about the sovereign debt problems in Europe and as the Euro's rebound sent risky assets higher. The US markets were mostly flat yesterday but the DOW futures raced up in the screen trade today, indicating that the stocks could be flying ahead of the weekends.

Yesterday, the euro gained after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said he welcomed a European Union agreement on an aid plan for Greece. Media reports stated that European leaders and the International Monetary Fund have agreed to support debt burdened-Greece. This framed up the things nice and easy for risky assets and an early rebound in crude oil from $80 per barrel levels augured well for the Asian markets, helping the regional benchmarks post strong gains.

Japan's Nikkei ended 1.6% higher at 10,996.37, its highest close since the early days of October 2008, after briefly topping the psychologically important 11,000-point level. A weaker yen, which benefits Japanese exporters by making their products more competitive overseas, supported the sentiments. The greenback extended its strength slightly in Asian afternoon trade on Friday, but failed to break pass 93 levels as exporters actively sold the dollar to repatriate profits

The Australian stocks also closed slightly higher as funds returned to the major resource and finance sectors stocks in tune with the strong undertone in the Asian equities. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index added 11.5 points, or 0.24%, to 4,896.9 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 8.9 points, or 0.18%, to 4,905.2 points.

Chinese banking stocks jumped despite Industrial & Commercial Bank of China's plans to raise funds, as some analysts saw the move ending speculation over capital-raising after last year's lending spree. This, alongwith the drop in the markets earlier in the week meant that plenty of buying support was in for the Chinese stocks ahead of the weekends and the Shanghai Composite gained 1.3% on the day.

In other markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 1.3% reversing Thursday's declines, while South Korea's Kospi added 0.6%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.2% and Taiwan's Taiex surged 0.5%. Elsewhere in the region, New Zealand's NZX 50 rose 0.1% and Philippine stocks ended 0.3% higher.

In Mumbai, the key indices pared gains in late trade after surging to their highest level in more than two months in mid-afternoon trade. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) trimmed gains in late trade and the BSE 30-share Sensex was provisionally up 58.62 points or 0.33%, off close to 65 points from the day's high. Metal, consumer durables, auto and banking stocks rose. But, IT stocks fell.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were last seen quoting up 25 points in screen trade. Crude oil has firmed up above $81 per barrel, currently quoting at $81.12, up 59 cents from the previous close while Gold is also extending the yesterday's intraday bounce from six week lows. COMEX April Gold futures are currently trading at $1098.20, up $4.10 per ounce from the previous close