* Asian shares see modest gains for a fifth day
* Gold hits new record as dollar hovers near 15-month low
* Aussie dollar surges to 15-mth high on strong jobs data
By Susan Fenton
HONG KONG, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Asian shares edged up on
Thursday as investors continued to favour riskier assets on
further signs that the global economy is picking up, while a
weak dollar sent gold to another record high.
The dollar <.DXY> recovered some losses after hitting a
15-month low early on, but was still down 0.3 percent against a
basket of major currencies.
Its weakness encouraged a shift into gold <XAU=>, which hit
a record high for a second day, at $1,120.30 an ounce, while
platinum <XPT=> rose to a record high above $1,376 an ounce.
A string of robust economic data from China on Wednesday
has added to expectations the world's fastest-growing major
economy can lead a pick-up in global activity. That has further
encouraged a shift from the dollar to riskier assets and
boosted commodity prices.
Asian equities rose for a fifth straight day, though gains
were modest. Both the MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded
outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> and the Nikkei <> were up
around 0.4 percent.
Asian stocks were also underpinned by gains on Wall Street
where the Dow Jones index <> hit a fresh 13-month high,
helped by an upbeat revenue forecast from luxury homebuilder
Toll Brothers Inc <TOL.N> and the Chinese data. []
"Even though fears of the U.S. economy dipping again are
receding, the biggest boosts are the signs that no stimulus
measures will be revoked until a recovery is really confirmed,"
said Kenichi Hirano at Tachibana Securities in Tokyo.
AUSSIE HITS 15-MTH HIGH
Australia's equity market <> was supported by gains in
resource-related stocks, which were buoyed by signs of firming
Chinese demand, but stocks came off earlier highs after strong
employment data for October raised the likelihood of another
interest rate rise next month.
That along with firmer prices for gold and other
commodities propelled the high-yielding Aussie dollar <AUD=> to
a 15-month high at $0.9370.
"One month of this data you can take with a grain of salt,
but two months in a row of positive (employment) numbers is
starting to look llke a trend," said Rob Henderson, head of
market economics at National Australia Bank.
South Korea's central bank said recent economic activity
showed "clear recovery" but added it would maintain policy
easing for the time being [] and kept its
benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low 2 percent.
In Asia, shares of Korean business group Hyosung
<004800.KS> rallied 13.8 percent after the company withdrew its
bid for a controlling stake in Hynix Semiconductor <000660.KS>,
the world's No. 2 memory chipmaker. [] Hynix shares
rose 1.8 percent.
Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index <> was flat but
shares in Bank of East Asia <0023.HK> jumped more than 8
percent at one point, adding to a 15 percent surge on Wednesday
on rumours the lender could be a takeover target for Malaysian
conglomerate Guoco Group.
CURRENCIES
The sterling <GBP=> remained under pressure after the Bank
of England explicitly called for currency weakness to boost
exports and on benign UK inflation data on Wednesday.
[] Sterling was trading at $1.6600, after falling
more than 1 percent the previous day.
Asian currencies, in contrast, are expected to continue to
face upward pressure after China signalled on Wednesday it was
ready to renew yuan appreciation after an 18-month hiatus
[]
Korean authorities were spotted intervening on Thursday to
curb the won <KRW=>, which was quoted at 1,155 to the dollar,
up from 1,157 late on Wednesday.
U.S. crude oil futures <CLc1> held steady above $79 a
barrel, with the market awaiting the release of government data
on crude and refined oil product stocks and other economic
indicators due out later in the day for directional cues.
(Additional reporting by Elaine Lies in TOKYO and Wayne Cole
in SYDNEY; Editing by Kim Coghill)
(susan.fenton@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843 6367; Reuters
Messaging: susan.fenton.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)
