* Asian shares broadly firmer, techs helped by RIM, Oracle
* Dollar holds firm near 3-month highs on euro
* Oil soft after Friday's climb
By Charlotte Cooper
TOKYO, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Asian share markets rose broadly
on Monday, with high-tech stocks following gains in U.S. rivals
late last week, and the dollar held its ground near three-month
highs against the euro and kept on a firmer footing against the
yen.
But shares in Hong Kong eased, extending last week's losing
streak, with banks down on brokers' concern they may need to
make provisions against exposure to debt in Dubai.
Shares in Australia and Japan climbed, while the MSCI index
of Asian stocks excluding Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> was steady and
S&P futures <SPc1> were up.
"Investors welcomed solid earnings results from Oracle and
(BlackBerry maker) Research in Motion over the weekend, as well
as a weaker yen," said Norihiro Fujito, general manager of
investment research at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities in Tokyo.
"But trading volume is becoming thin as the year-end draws
near and the market could easily turn south if the yen
strengthens again."
The Nikkei average <> rose 0.6 percent as stocks such
as chip-tester maker Advantest Corp <6857.T> gained.
Upbeat results from Oracle <ORCL.O> and Research In Motion
<RIM.TO> <RIMM.O> helped boost the Nasdaq <> on Friday,
which ended up 1.45 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average
<> closed up 0.20 percent and the Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> rose 0.58 percent.
Australia's biggest carrier Qantas Airways Ltd <QAN.AX>
rose more than 5 percent after forecasting a return to profit,
helping buoy the main index <>, which rose 0.4 percent.
Mining stocks rose on stronger metal prices, with BHP
Billiton Ltd <BHP.AX> up 1.8 percent and Rio Tinto Ltd <RIO.AX>
adding 0.1 percent.
Shares in Seoul <> were unchanged, although KB
Financial <105560.KS> eased and Shanghai's key stock index
<> fluctuated, falling 0.6 percent in early trade.
The dollar held close to its highest point in more than
three months against the euro as currency players anticipated
more year-end short-covering in the U.S. currency until the
Christmas break later this week.
A brighter outlook for the U.S. economy after stronger
figures on the job market and retail sales earlier this month
has helped the dollar pull back from a long-running downward
trend.
"The dollar may extend gains a little more as momentum
buyers could chase the dollar up while it stays in an uptrend,"
said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief FX strategist for Barclays
Capital in Japan.
The euro was steady at $1.4341 <EUR=> after dipping to
$1.4262 on Friday, its lowest since early September. The dollar
was unchanged at 90.40 yen, after touching its strongest level
for six weeks on Friday.
U.S. crude futures edged down, paring Friday's 1 percent
rise after news Iranian troops had partly withdrawn from a
disputed oil area claimed by both Tehran and Baghdad, easing
tensions between two major crude exporters. NYMEX crude for
January delivery <CLc1> was down 6 cents at $73.30 a barrel.
