* Asia stocks rise for 2nd day as Apple results beat street
* Resource shares lead gains on China policy easing hopes
* Euro up ahead of euro zone bank stress test results
* Testimony from Fed Chairman Bernanke awaited
By Kevin Yao
SINGAPORE, July 21 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on
Wednesday as investors cheered Apple's strong earnings and on
optimism that China may roll back policy tightening measures
later this year, while the euro firmed ahead of euro zone's
bank stress test results late in the week.
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific ex-Japan stocks
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose 0.8 percent, led by the resources sector
<.MIAPJMT00PUS>, which gained 1.6 percent on hopes that China's
voracious demand for commodities would remain strong. South
Korean shares <> rose 0.6 percent, buoyed by memory chip
makers such as Samsung Electronics <005930.KS> on hopes memory
chip demand would stay robust after Apple <AAPL.O> posted
stronger-than-expected results and gave an unusually upbeat
revenue forecast after the Wall Street closing bell.
Weak revenue growth reported by some other major U.S. firms
over the last week had fueled fears that its economic recovery
was losing momentum. []
"Apple's strong set of results and U.S. Nasdaq index
futures' <NDc1> subsequent gains, have prompted foreign buying
into Seoul technology stocks," said Kim Seong-bong, a market
analyst at Samsung Securities.
"Apple's earnings point to earnings growth for domestic
memory chip makers, which probably supply chips to Apple," said
Lim Dong-min, a market analyst at KB Investment & Securities.
Shares of Apple, maker of the iPhone and iPad, jumped more
than 3 percent in after-hours trade, which could help U.S.
stocks to their third straight day of gains on Wednesday.
Japan's Nikkei average <> clawed 0.2 percent higher,
but gains were limited by profit-taking amid lingering worries
over the U.S. recovery.
Risk-taking was boosted by reports by several investment
banks, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, that the
Chinese authorities would roll back policy tightening later
this year to support economic growth.
China's annual economic growth decelerated to 10.3 percent
in the second quarter from 11.9 percent in the first quarter.
"Our base case is for loosening to occur in the three
months starting from August but even sooner is possible,"
analysts at Goldman said in a report issued this week.
U.S. stocks staged a late-day rebound to end higher on
Tuesday, shrugging off disappointment over some company
earnings reports and a drop in U.S. housing starts, as
investors bought beaten-down shares amid speculation the
Federal Reserve will take steps to spur lending. []
New U.S. home construction hit its lowest level in eight
months in June, further evidence that the U.S. economy lost
steam in the second quarter, but a rise in building permits
offered hope of a pickup in homebuilding. []
EURO AWAITS STRESS TESTS
In currency markets, the euro inched up against the dollar,
a day after being knocked from a 10-week high above $1.3000 due
to profit-taking ahead of euro zone bank stress test results
due out on Friday.
The euro stood at $1.2896 <EUR=>. It rose as far as high as
$1.3029 on Tuesday, its highest since May 10, and has now
tested the $1.3000 level for three days in a row.
Traders said players were likely to keep taking profits in
the near term on the euro's sharp rally which has taken it up
more than 8 percent since it hit a 4-year low of $1.1876 in
early June.
But losses in the euro are expected to be limited before
the stress test results are announced, with some analysts
saying the results could soothe concerns about how European
banks would cope with a deterioration in the regions' economy.
Markets were also awaiting testimony from Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke to Congress later in the day (1800 GMT).
If a recent softening in a range of economic data is
matched by greater unemployment, analysts say the U.S. central
bank may be forced to take some form of action in coming
months, even if its room to manoeuvre appears quite limited.
[] and []
(Editing by Kim Coghill)
