* Commodities post hefty gains on weaker dollar
* More inflows seen into emerging markets - CA
* China data boosts copper, may gain more
By Saikat Chatterjee
HONG KONG, April 11 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures
hovered around $113 a barrel on Monday for the first time since
September 2008 on supply concerns, while the euro climbed on
increasing expectations of another rate hike by the European
Central Bank in July.
Widening unrest in the Middle East and a weakening dollar
lent new impetus to a rally in oil markets with Brent crude
briefly hitting the $127 mark before pulling back slightly on
prospects of a peace deal in Libya. []
But stock markets and commodity traders chose to focus
instead on stronger-than-expected trade data from China and
expectations that political risks in the Middle East would be
contained.
Asian stocks outside Japan edged up,
extending hefty gains of the last three weeks, with Chinese
and Australian shares leading gains, helped by
investments from overseas, a trend that has picked up in recent
sessions.
During the first week of April, flows into Asia-ex Japan
equity funds hit a 20-week high as expectations grew that most
Asian economies were able to keep inflationary pressures in
check, data from fund-tracker EPFR Global showed.
After a patchy start to the year, emerging markets have
roared back in recent weeks as policy tightening in China showed
that authorities in the world's biggest economies are getting
more sanguine about growth prospects.
Three central banks in Asia are set to review monetary
policy this week with Singapore likely to tighten policy further
by recentering its currency band higher, which investors said
would be another thumbs up for emerging market prospects.
"This means more capital inflows into emerging market assets
and likely continued gains in their currencies," Credit Agricole
strategists said in a daily note.
COMMODITIES ROAR
A weaker greenback and strong trade data from China helped
lifted commodity prices across the board, with the
Reuters-Jefferies CRB index rising to its highest levels
since September 2008. []
LME copper gained 0.3 percent to $9,905 a tonne,
extending gains from last week, after data showed Chinese copper
imports rose 30 percent on the month. Tin hit a record high for
the second straight session.
Expectations of strong corporate earnings reports in coming
weeks may further boost gains.
HSBC strategists said the sharp rebound in China's March
exports after February's slump suggested global growth prospects
remained strong, notwithstanding the earthquake and tsunami in
Japan.
Gold jumped to a record for a fifth straight
session while firm oil prices and an increase in ETF holdings
to an all-time high helped silver hit a 31-year high above $41
an ounce. []
In currency markets, the euro rose to 15-month highs around
$1.4488 , paving the way for a test of $1.4582, the Jan
2010 high, as expectations grew that the ECB would follow up
April's quarter point rate increase with another one in July.
[]
While the euro's gains have gathered steam from the March
lows after ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet first hinted at an
April rate hike, the yen and the dollar have floundered as the
Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan are expected to keep interest
rates near zero for an extended period of time.
U.S. Treasury yields paused after rising for three straight
weeks as traders waited for a slew of supplies this week.
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(Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in SEOUL and Ian Chua in
SYDNEY; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani & Ramya Venugopal)
