* Nikkei gains as dollar hits two-week highs vs yen
* Copper rebounds, with record high back in sight
* Markets cheer upbeat U.S. data, but cautious ahead of
payrolls
By Ian Chua
SYDNEY, Jan 6 (Reuters) - The Nikkei rallied on Thursday
as investors snapped up shares of Japanese exporters after the
dollar hit two-week highs against the yen, but markets
elsewhere in Asia were more subdued ahead of the influential
U.S. non-farm payrolls report.
Copper climbed 1 percent to a high of $9,654.25 a tonne
, nearing a record high of $9,754 struck on Tuesday,
after an ADP report showed a record 297,000 U.S. private
sector jobs were created in December, the clearest signal in
months that a recovery in the world's biggest economy was
shifting up a gear.
The figure prompted analysts to raise their forecasts for
the closely watched non-farm payrolls data, with estimates now
centring on an increase of 175,000 jobs, up from 140,000 in an
earlier Reuters survey.
While some analysts were sceptical of the size of the jump
in the ADP job report, it does follow a string of recent
upbeat U.S. data showing the economy is picking up steam.
"Markets will now wait for U.S. payrolls on Friday for
confirmation of the strong trend," said Hiroaki Osakabe, a
fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management. "But investors will
then focus on how the U.S. data will impact the dollar/yen
rate."
Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 1.2 percent and
breached the psychologically important barrier of 10,500 to
reach its best level since May 2010.
Major exporters including Canon Inc and Toyota
Motors climbed more than 1 percent.
MSCI's Asia Pacific index excluding Japan ,
however, slipped 0.1 percent, having drifted in and out of
positive territory. Earlier this week technical indicators
showed it was close to being overbought after a strong
end-2010 rally, making investors wary that markets were due
for a pullback.
South Korea's KOSPI and Hong Kong's Hang Seng
index were both flat, while China's Shanghai Composite
index shed 0.7 percent.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index reversed early gains
ad slid 0.4 percent as concerns over severe floods in the
country's northeast made investors unsure of how to judge
company earnings in 2011.
Global miner BHP Billiton fell 0.5 percent and
Rio Tinto eased about 0.1 percent.
DOLLAR FIRM
The dollar rose to 83.39 yen , reaching highs not
seen since Dec. 23, while the euro wallowed below $1.3200
, having fallen below that level overnight for the first
time since Dec. 29.
The dollar index , which tracks the greenback's
performance against a basket of major currencies, was little
changed at 80.218, after topping out at a fresh one-week high
of 80.353.
"As long as the key jobs data on Friday is in line with
expectations, the dollar is likely keep its gains, but it
looks hard for it to climb higher as the market has already
priced in good numbers," said Hideki Hayashi, a global
economist at Mizuho Securities.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> edged up 0.1 percent to $90.42
<CLc1>, after trading as high as $90.71, not far from a
27-month high of $92.58 set in the first trading day of the
year.
(Addititional reporting by Antoni Slodkowski and Kaori Kaneko
in Tokyo; Editing by Kim Coghill)
