* Asia stocks up 2.4 pct, world stocks at 10-mth high
* Upbeat U.S. housing data, Bernanke comments spur buying
* Oil holds near 10-month peak, yen falls vs Aussie
By Eric Burroughs
HONG KONG, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Asian stocks jumped more than
2 percent on Monday, lifting world shares to a 10-month high,
after upbeat U.S. housing data and optimistic comments from
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spurred buying of riskier
assets.
Solid earnings from Chinese heavyweights such as Sinopec
<0386.HK><600028.SS>, the world's second largest refiner, gave
a boost to Shanghai, which posted a third straight day of gains
and started to stabilise from a slide that had spooked
investors around the world.
Oil prices climbed back near a 10-month peak and copper
futures jumped on hopes the global economic recovery is picking
up steam. The dollar was little changed even as higher-yielding
currencies such as the Australian dollar climbed.
"People are feeling a lot better and putting their money to
work back in the market," said Chris Kimber, a client adviser
with Bell Potter Securities in Australia.
Growing signs of improvement in the U.S. housing market,
the source of the international financial crisis and deepest
global recession in decades, have given investors more
confidence to buy shares and commodities, betting on stronger
growth in the months ahead. []
Bernanke told the Fed's annual gathering of global central
bankers on Friday that prospects were good for a return to
global growth but warned it would be a long, slow climb back to
normal conditions. []
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet also warned the same
gathering that he was a bit uneasy about the talk of conditions
returning to normal.
Nouriel Roubini, one of the few economists who accurately
predicted the magnitude of the world's recent financial
troubles, sees a "big risk" of a double-dip recession,
according to an opinion piece posted on the Financial Times'
website on Sunday. []
Roubini said it appears the global economy will bottom out
in the second half of this year, but that U.S. and western
European economies will likely see "anemic" and "below trend"
growth for at least a couple of years.
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose 2.2 percent, bouncing back from last
week's drop of more than 3 percent, mainly due to a sell-off in
Shanghai shares.
The MSCI index of world shares <.MIWD00000PUS> rose 0.5
percent to its highest since early October last year when
global stock markets went into a freefall.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng <> was up 2 percent, while the
China Enterprises Index of Chinese companies <.HSCE> gained 2.4
percent. The Shanghai Composite <> edged up 0.4 percent.
Despite persistent worries that Chinese officials could
crack down on bank lending and choke off the funds that have
partly flowed into the stock market, analysts said that Beijing
was likely to remain cautious about winding back its loose
monetary policy until the economy recovery was on solid
footing.
"The flow of official statements still incite us to believe
that China's top policy makers will likely avoid a too strong
tightening in order to keep economic growth and the job
creation processes on track," said analysts at Calyon in a note
to clients.
Chinese economic growth is likely to stay at 8 percent next
year as property and corporate investment, along with rising
exports, take up the slack from waning government stimulus,
central bank adviser Fan Gang said in remarks reported by the
Shanghai Securities News on Monday. []
Japan's Nikkei average <> rose 3.1 percent, partly as
some market players covered short positions in automaker shares
after the U.S. government said it would not extend its "cash
for clunkers" programme that has been a boon to the battered
sector.
DOLLAR GAINS ON YEN
The Nikkei's gains shoved Japanese government bonds lower,
pushing benchmark yields off a five-week low hit on Friday. The
10-year yield <JP10YTN=JBTC> edged up 2.5 basis points to 1.335
percent.
The dollar <.DXY> was little changed against most major
currencies but climbed against the yen, which fell broadly as
investors moved funds out of the Japanese currency and into
higher-risk, higher-yielding assets.
The dollar was up 0.4 percent at 94.80 yen <JPY=>. The
Aussie gained 0.6 percent to $0.8395 <AUD=D4> and 79.55 yen
<AUDJPY=R>.
A rebound in commodity prices underpinned the Australian
currency. Copper prices <MCU3> jumped nearly 1 percent, while
U.S. crude <CLc1> edged up 32 cents to $74.21 a barrel.
(Editing by Kim Coghill)
