Asian stocks rebound

HONG KONG: Asian markets rebounded on Tuesday after a three-day sell-off as renewed fears over eurozone debt were soothed after the European Central Bank indicated it could step in if needed.

However, ongoing jitters over the strength of the global economy kept a lid on sentiment while geopolitical concerns weighed as North Korea plans a rocket launch.

Tokyo added 0.15 percent by the break, Hong Kong was 0.10 percent higher, Sydney added 0.45 percent and Shanghai gained 0.20 percent but Seoul fell 0.90 percent.

The gains bring an end to recent selling pressure sparked by weak US jobs data last week, another set of poor Chinese economic figures and fresh anxiety that Spain could be engulfed in a Greece-style debt crisis.

A slump in Asia on Wednesday followed Wall Street and Europe after bond yields for Madrid shot to highs not seen since December on fears recent austerity measures could send it deeper into recession.

But investors took heart from ECB board member Benoit Coeure, who suggested that markets were overestimating the extent of Spain's problems and did not rule out additional purchases of sovereign debt by the central bank.

Spain's benchmark 10-year bond yields eased to 5.87 percent from 5.94 percent.

Stocks in New York and Europe also bounced back on Wednesday.

London's FTSE 100 index added 0.70 percent, Frankfurt's DAX 30 rose 1.03 percent and the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.62 percent, while the Madrid Ibex 35 was 1.93 percent higher.

On Wall Street the Dow closed up 0.70 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.74 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.84 percent.

But Mitul Kotecha, strategist at Credit Agricole, warned that renewed debt worries "will not fade quickly while growth concerns have been reignited by last week's weaker than expected US jobs report".

The euro edged back up on the news and bought $1.3117 in early Tokyo trade, from $1.3108 late Wednesday in New York while it also rose to 106.26 yen from 106.00 yen. The dollar was at 80.91 yen against 80.86 yen. (AFP)