* China trade rebound pushes Asian stocks to 17-mth high
* Dollar extends losses on weak U.S. jobs report
* Gold surges to 5-wk high, oil tops $83
(Repeats story to more subscribers)
By Susan Fenton
HONG KONG, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose to a
17-month high on Monday as a strong rebound in China's exports
raised optimism about the region's economic outlook as the
dollar suffered following weak U.S. jobs data.
China's exports and imports last month blew past
expectations, with exports surging 17.7 percent from a year
earlier to break 13 months of declines. The trade data,
released on Sunday, triggered a shift into Asian assets as
investors shrugged off Friday's disappointing U.S. non-farm
payrolls data.
Gold pushed up to a five-week high as the data showed a
sharp rise in China's commodity imports and sent the Australian
dollar <AUD=> to a 26-month peak against the euro <EUR=>.
Chia-Liang Lian, a senior vice president at bond fund PIMCO
said Asia's domestic fundamentals make the region highly
attractive.
"We have seen how Asia has navigated successfully through a
tough year with a score card that is nothing short of
spectacular," Lian told Reuters in an interview.
[]
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> hit its highest level since July 2008.
The index and the Thomson Reuters index of regional shares
<.TRXFLDAXPU> were up 1.4 percent and 0.8 percent,
respectively.
Japanese financial markets were closed for a public
holiday.
Australia's leading share index <> rose 0.8 percent to
a 15-month high as the China data lifted resource companies
that benefit from Chinese demand.
The Australian dollar soared to 0.6442 euros <AUDEUR=>, its
highest in more than two years, and a five-week high against
the dollar at $0.9305 <AUD=>.
OIL TOPS $83
Shares in Shanghai <> climbed 1 percent after the
trade data underlined the vigour of the economy.
[]
Shares of Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) <2600.HK>
<601600.SS>, the country's top aluminum company, surged 4
percent in Hong Kong.
Chinese brokerage shares also rallied after news late last
week that Beijing had decided to allow stock index futures and
margin trading. []
The dollar, however, extended losses stemming from the jobs
report, which dampened expectations of an early rise in U.S.
interest rates.
A member of the U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy
committee, James Bullard, said on Monday that U.S. rates may
remain low for quite sometime, reiterating the central bank's
long standing position.
Bullard, the president of the St Louis Federal Reserve
Bank, made the comments in remarks prepared for a speech in
Shanghai. []
The dollar dropped 0.6 percent against a basket of
currencies <.DXY> and was changing hands at $1.4492 against the
euro <EUR=>, down from $1.4414 late in New York on Friday.
The U.S. economy shed 85,000 jobs in December, confounding
expectations that the jobs market was finally stabilising.
Still, analysts argued the outcome was consistent with economic
recovery because the pace of job losses had dropped sharply
since the height of recession. []
That view carried over into the stock market. U.S. stocks
rose on Friday after trading in the red for most of the day.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> and S&P 500 <.SPX>
hit 15-month highs, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed to a
16-month peak.
Oil <CLc1> jumped more than 1 percent, topping $83 a
barrel, on the back of the weak dollar and a surge in China's
crude oil imports last month.
Extremely cold weather in parts of the northern hemisphere
also continued to support the oil price, which some analysts
suggesting it is heading to $85 a barrel. It is still 43
percent below its July 2008 high of more than $147 a barrel
though.
China's export rebound fuelled expectations China could
soon let the yuan start rising again <CNY=CFXS>.
A stronger yuan would benefit pricing for fellow Asian
exporters. So Asian currencies rose, notably the Korean won
<KRW=KFTC>, which struck its highest level against the dollar
in more than 15 months.
(Additional reporting by Saikat Chatterjee in HONG KONG;
editing by Neil Fullick)
(susan.fenton@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843 6367; Reuters
Messaging: susan.fenton.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)
