Asian markets mostly higher in early trade

HONG KONG: Asian markets rose in early trade Thursday, taking a lead from Wall Street and extending a recent rally on hopes that eurozone leaders will be able to hammer out a solution to the debt crisis.

The euro edged down on profit-taking after posting fresh gains late in New York on Wednesday, as traders responded to news that a bailout package for Europe's sovereign debt woes was around the corner.

Tokyo rose 1.15 percent higher by the break, Hong Kong gained 1.60 percent on open, Sydney added 0.74 percent and Seoul was up 1.27 percent while Shanghai was 0.40 percent higher, extending a surge on Wednesday.

Sentiment was lifted by news that Slovakia's political parties had agreed to hold a new vote this week that could see the expansion of the eurozone emergency fund approved by Friday.

Lawmakers in the Eastern European nation on Tuesday blocked its passage, holding up EU leaders' plans to revamp the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), a tool created last year to shore up debt-laden economies.

Slovakia is the last of the 17 eurozone members to ratify the deal.

The market appears "a little bit more optimistic that Europe is going to get... together on the banking crisis", said David Gilmore, analyst at New York's Foreign Exchange Analytics.

And Mark Smith, economist at ANZ bank in Wellington, told Dow Jones Newswires: "Equity markets are still giving European leaders the benefit of the doubt."

But he added that in coming days investors will be watching out for concrete measures to resolve the bloc's debt problems.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso joined the chorus of leaders calling for a solution to the crisis, saying banks "urgently" need to recapitalise to weather the sovereign debt storm.

However, Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities, noted: "Markets have been rising solely on the back of expectations (for Europe) so it's going to be a bit shaky from here."

The euro extended its recent gains in New York on increased risk-appetite although it eased slightly in Asia due to profit-taking.

In Tokyo the single currency was at $1.3768 against the US dollar, from $1.3796 late Wednesday in New York, where at one point it broke through $1.3800.

It was also at 106.14 yen in Tokyo, from 106.52 yen in New York. On Wednesday in Asia the euro bought 104.46 yen.

The dollar was at 77.09 yen, from 77.24 yen.

In Shanghai dealers were digesting data showing the politically sensitive trade surplus contracted to $14.51 billion in September from $17.8 billion in the previous month.

The figures will likely stoke fears over China's vast manufacturing sector, which employs millions of workers and has been contracting for several months as overseas demand for Chinese-made clothes and gadgets weakens.

On Wall Street, investors digested the minutes of the most recent Federal Reserve meeting released Wednesday that showed some members wanted the central bank to resume large-scale asset purchases, or quantitative easing, to boost the weak economy.

The news helped send the Dow up 0.90 percent, while the Nasdaq added 0.84 percent and the S&P 500 climbed 0.98 percent.

The Australian dollar got a boost after official data showed the country's unemployment rate dipped to 5.2 percent in September from 5.3 percent in August.

The Aussie dollar surged to 102.30 US cents from 101.50 just before the report.

Oil was down in Asian trade Thursday, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery shedding 86 cents to $84.71 per barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November fell nine cents to $111.27 on its last trading day.

By 0300 GMT gold was at $1,679.40 an ounce, from $1,682.01 at 1100 GMT on Wednesday. (AFP)