GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks jump on US auto rescue, stimulus

                                
 * Stocks gain as US automaker rescue takes shape
                                
 * Stimulus packages, big rate cuts soothe some investors
                                
 * Dollar and Treasuries retreat on risk-taking revival
                                
 By Eric Burroughs
                                
 HONG KONG, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Asian stocks jumped to a
three-week high on Monday, with investors taking heart from a
rescue plan for U.S. automakers, falling oil prices and more
government stimulus measures to limit the economic damage from
the credit crisis.
                                
 Shares in Hong Kong surged 7.5 percent <.HSI> after a
report that senior Chinese economic officials were meeting this
week stirred speculation that more stimulus measures were on
the way.
                                
 Financial bookmakers called for a surge of about 5 percent
in Britain's FTSE <.FTSE> and Germany's DAX <.GDAXI>, which
missed out on Wall Street's late-day rally on Friday.
                                
 Oil prices <CLc1> rose around 6 percent to $43.21, but the
plunge to a four-year low near $40 a barrel is expected to
provide some relief to the bleak landscape of tightening credit
and mounting layoffs.
                                
 The dollar slipped as stocks posted gains despite Friday's
dismal U.S. employment report showing 533,000 jobs were lost in
November, the most in 34 years and one of the biggest drops
ever in the government data. [ID:nN05431090]
                                
 Wall Street's surge, led by retail shares, suggested some
investors believe the worst may be over after the plunge in
stocks this year and a rush to safe-haven bonds that has driven
benchmark U.S. Treasury yields to half-century lows.
                                
 But plenty of investors remain sceptical about outlook,
since the financial crisis has only just started taking its
full toll on the global economy.
                                
 A survey released Monday showed confidence among Japanese
service sector workers fell further in November to a record
low.
                                
 "There still will be more downside movements in Asian
markets," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist
at CMC Seymour in Hong Kong, adding that shrinking trade
surpluses in the region should hurt corporate earnings and
equities.
                                
 The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> surged 6.5 percent, poised for its biggest
daily rise in six weeks. But the index remains down 56 percent
on the year as 2008 comes to a close.
                                
 In a sign that investors are putting money to work, data
from EPFR Global showed Asia ex-Japan funds recording a third
straight week of inflows. Japanese portfolio managers have
snapped up $28.7 billion of foreign stocks in October and
December combined, with the buying in November the most on data
going back to 2005.
                                
 Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> pushed up 5.2 percent, with
machinery maker Komatsu <6301.T> soaring 11 percent on the
global stimulus plans being launched. The Nikkei outpaced the
3.7 percent rise in the U.S. S&P 500 <.SPX> on Friday.
                                
 "There's a sense that perhaps Japanese shares had fallen
too much," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a strategist at Mitsubishi
UFJ Securities.
                                
 MORE RESCUE PACKAGES
                                
 Around the world, policymakers kept up their efforts to
revive their economies.
                                
 U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said over the weekend
that he plans the biggest increase in infrastructure investment
since the 1950s with the goal of creating at least 2.5 million
jobs. [ID:nN05458678]
                                
 India launched $4 billion of extra spending to support the
economy, while Xinhua news agency reported that Chinese
economic leaders were meeting this week on ways to keep growth
above 8 percent. Australia started sending cheques to families
and pensioners under a stimulus plan announced in October..
                                
 Also over the weekend, the White House and congressional
negotiators sought to resolve the remaining difficulties over
an emergency rescue for the ailing U.S. car industry.
[ID:nN07462460]
                                
 Many markets have shuffled sideways in the past several
weeks despite the relentless array of bleak news, giving some
analysts reasons to think the worst may be over after central
banks slashed interest rates and authorities put together
spending packages to revive growth.
                                
 As stock indexes have found their footing, the dollar and
yen have slipped as investors tip-toe back into the euro and
higher-yielding currencies that have been battered throughout
the crisis on expectations for aggressive rate cuts.
                                
 The euro rose 0.7 percent to 118.93 yen <EUR=>, helping
lift the single currency 0.6 percent to $1.2800 <EUR=>. The
dollar index, a gauge of its performance against six major
currencies, dropped 0.6 percent 86.417 <.DXY>.
                                
 Battered emerging market currencies staged a recovery, with
the South Korean won <KRW=> up about 2 percent.
                                
 Safe-haven U.S. Treasuries succumbed on the improvement in
risk-taking. March 10-year Treasury futures <TYv1> fell a half
point to 122-17/32. The 10-year Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was
flat in price to yield 2.724 percent, up from a five-decade low
of 2.510 percent hit on Friday.
 (Additional reporting by Xi Chen in Hong Kong and Elaine Lies
in Tokyo; Editing by Alex Richardson)