(Corrects size of the Asia stock drop on Thursday in third
paragraph)
* Asia stocks up 2 pct, bounce back from slid
* Aussie slips on profit-taking after sharp rebound
* Upbeat earnings from Samsung, ICBC boost indexes
By Eric Burroughs
HONG KONG, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Asian stocks bounced back on
Friday from their worst drop in two months, with investors
taking heart from the United States' return to economic growth,
which gave reassurance on the recovery's staying power.
Traders said the slide in shares and higher-yielding
currencies the previous day was caused in part by hedge funds
pulling out funds from winning bets this year as many in the
United States are closing their books for the year next month.
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose 2 percent after a tumble of 1.6 percent on
Thursday and a combined 4 percent during the previous two days
-- the biggest since stock markets bottomed out in March.
Commodities recovered along with stocks. Crude oil prices
held near $80 a barrel <CLc1> and a one-year peak struck last
week. But the Australian dollar, the major currency offering
the highest yield, slipped as some market players booked
profits on its 2 percent surge -- the biggest since June.
Analysts said the 3.5 percent annualised growth in the
United States during the third quarter, pulling the economy out
of its worst recession since the Great Depression, pointed to
further growth ahead thanks to expected corporate inventory
rebuilding and government spending. []
"The GDP number was supportive of a better economic growth
environment. The higher-risk stocks are finding more support,"
said RBS Australia head of distribution Leigh Gardner. "The
growth trajectory in North America and in Australia is
supportive of markets going higher."
HOPES FOR QUICK REVIVAL
The figures helped relieve some investor worries that the
global recovery was losing momentum, which had prompted some to
take profits on this year's equity market surge as heavy
government stimulus and interventions helped revive growth more
quickly than expected.
The MSCI benchmark for Asia is up nearly 60 percent this
year, staging a rebound from a record yearly fall last year as
the financial firestorm dragged the world economy into
recession.
South Korea's Samsung Electronics <005930.KS>, a bellwether
for Asian technology companies and the world's top maker of
memory chips and LCD screens, reported its best-ever quarterly
profit and forecast a strong 2010. []
Samsung's shares jumped 2.7 percent, outpacing the 0.8
percent rise in Seoul's benchmark KOSPI index <>.
Shares in Hong Kong were the strongest in Asia. The Hang
Seng <> jumped 3 percent, with Industrial and Commercial
Bank of China (ICBC) the biggest contributor as it gained 4.4
percent after a 19 percent rise in quarterly profit.
[]
Across the border in Shenzhen, Chinese investors flocked to
the new start-up ChiNext market <0#CHINEXT.SZ> on its first day
of trade.
All 28 shares in the market have been halted for 30 minutes
at least once after they rose 20 percent from their opening
prices, setting off circuit-breakers and underscoring massive
speculation in China's nascent stock market. []
The dollar was steady after having lost ground the previous
day on the hefty gains in higher-yielding currencies.
The dollar index, a gauge of its performance against a
basket of six leading currencies, was flat at 75.884. The euro
drifted up 0.1 percent to $1.4845 <EUR=>, while the dollar
dipped 0.2 percent to 91.30 yen <JPY=>. Gold prices
The Aussie slipped 0.1 percent to $0.9150 <AUD=D4> and
holding below a 14-month peak of $0.9330.
Solid equity market gains dented government bonds and
pushed yields up. The benchmark 10-year Japanese government
bond yield <JP10YTN=JBTC> edged up half a basis point to 1.410
percent and held near a two-month peak as the Nikkei <>
climbed 1.4 percent.
Worries about how much new bond supply the government may
have to issue to cover a shortfall in tax revenue has hounded
the JGB market. Vice Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda told
Reuters on Thursday that new issuance for the fiscal year to
March 2010 may hit 50 trillion yen ($554 billion), up from the
44 trillion planned before. []
(Additional reporting by Victoria Thieberger in Melbourne;
Editing by Jan Dahinten)
