Asian share markets pushed higher on Friday, led by banking and technology stocks, while the dollar and oil prices held firm. Both gold and bond prices gained some ground. Trade data from the North American chip equipment industry showed the book-to-bill ratio, a closely watched ratio of orders to shipments, rose for the first time in four months in April. That cheered Asian tech stocks, helping Tokyo's Nikkei average <.N225> to a midsession gain of 0.8 percent to 10,945.38 after the index dropped almost one percent on Thursday. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co <6752.T>, which had lagged Tokyo's recent rally on the back of robust economic growth data, advanced over one percent and Hitachi <6501.T> rose 4.2 percent. The banking <.IBNKS.T> subindex was up 1.8 percent.
Japan's broader TOPIX index <.TOPX> was up 0.9 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> ended down 0.07 of a point at 9,937.64 on Thursday, as investors weighed mixed earnings reports against weaker-than-expected manufacturing data and rising oil prices. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dipped 0.08 percent ahead of the data from Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International that showed the April book-to-bill ratio was 1.14, meaning firms received new orders worth $114 for every $100 of products shipped. The March ratio was 1.09. July NYMEX crude oil was up four cents at $40.84 a barrel in electronic ACCESS trade at 0200 GMT, having settled 72 cents lower at $40.80 after the June contracts expired.
DOLLAR STEADY
Dealers said the dollar was idling ahead of a weekend meeting in New York of finance ministers from the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations, who are likely to comment on oil prices. As high crude prices stay in sharp focus, oil ministers from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are due to attend a producers-consumers forum in Amsterdam on Saturday. "Focus is shifting towards possible news about oil prices this weekend as soaring oil prices have been weighing on the dollar," said Yoshihiro Nomura, forex section manager at Trust & Custody Services Bank in Tokyo. "High oil prices are seen as a factor that would slow down the pace of U.S. monetary tightening," he added. High oil prices can dent U.S. corporate earnings and affect consumer spending, cause for concern among big exporters in Asia's oil import-dependent economies. The dollar was a touch firmer at 112.80 yen . The Japanese currency had been supported by stronger first-quarter GDP data. Against the euro , the dollar was flat at $1.1968. The yen also ceded some gains against the euro , dipping to 135 from 134.80.
MITSUBISHI BAIL-OUT
Auto maker Mitsubishi Motors Corp <7211.T> rose 2.1 percent ahead of an announcement, due later, of a 430 billion yen ($3.8 billion) bail-out from shareholders and its restructuring plans. The package is aimed at repairing the damage done by Mitsubishi's main shareholder, DaimlerChrysler AG , which pulled the plug on an earlier rescue plan. Singapore Telecommunications was down almost one percent after it said it would make a bid for Australian broadband network operator Uecomm Ltd , which has a market capitalisation of A$188 million. Shares in Uecomm's major shareholder, Alinta Gas Ltd , rose 0.3 percent. Seoul's benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) <.KS11> was up 0.6 percent as investors shrugged off weaker-than-expected first-quarter economic growth to pick up cut-price stocks after recent market falls. The KOSPI is still around 17 percent lower than its 2004 peak hit last month. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> rose half a percent. Japanese government bond (JGB) prices rallied on firmer U.S. Treasuries, but gains were capped by the rise in Japanese stocks.
U.S. Treasuries shot up on Thursday after a disappointing survey of manufacturers in the mid-Atlantic region and a surprise jump in U.S. jobless claims. Most analysts still expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to begin raising interest rates next month from a 46-year low. The benchmark 10-year JGB yield <0#JPTSY=JBTC> fell one basis point to 1.455 percent, while 10-year JGB futures <0#2JGB:> for June delivery were up 0.13 basis point at 138.69, still some way off a seven-week high of 138.89 hit earlier in the week. Spot gold was quoted up over $2 an ounce at $381 by 0141 GMT from $378.70 in late New York.///