Asian Shares On The Rise; Korean Tech Stks Supported By Dell

SINGAPORE -- Asian share markets were rising Friday, tracking mild gains on Wall Street, with technology stocks higher in Seoul after reassuring comments on the PC sector outlook from computer maker Dell.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.7% with South Korea's Kospi Composite up 0.8% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.7%. New Zealand's NZX-50 was 0.8% higher. Industrial Average futures were recently eight points lower in screen trade.

"As profit-taking kicked in yesterday, positive external cues like U.S. stocks and crude futures can more easily lift the market," said Mizuho Securities market analyst Yukio Takahashi.

Front-month Nymex crude futures rose $1.06 in New York and were up another 38 cents at $72.87 a barrel in electronic trade in Asia, helping energy-related stocks. In Tokyo, Inpex gained 1.5%, while Australia's Woodside was up 1.3%.

"Oil (inventories) are still at very high levels but improving demand amid continued supply tightness should accelerate the pace of erosion of the inventory overhang, lending support to prices," said Barclays Capital.

But some doubted Asian shares would gain much more before the weekend. "I think there will be some caution before U.S. funds come back from holidays next week," said Patersons senior private client adviser Chris Blair, adding "we don't know how they are going to react (to improved economic data and share market strength."

Elsewhere in Japan, All Nippon Airways gained 1.4% after Boeing said it would make its inaugural test flight for the 787 Dreamliner at the end of the year and deliver its first plane at the end of 2010. Analysts said this eased some uncertainty about the timeline for the Dreamliners.

In Korea, tech shares were broadly higher with Samsung Electronics up 2.0% and Hynix up 3.1%. After-hours in the U.S., Dell said its quarterly profit fell 23% as it continued to be squeezed by depressed corporate spending and plunging PC prices, but executives said they were seeing signs the PC industry was beginning to recover. Dell gained 3.2% in the U.S. in late trading.

Financial stocks in Seoul tracked gains in their U.S. peers, with Shinhan Financial up 1.1%.

In Australian, Sims Metal Management was down 1.6% while Caltex fell 2.1%, with news of big dividend cuts from both companies.

Brambles rose 1.2% after an Australian Financial Review report it had been approached with an offer to merge with Paul Little's Toll Holdings. Toll was up 4.1%.

There was another China/Australia deal on the resources front, with Aquila Resources up 9.8% on news it had entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with China's largest steel mill, Baosteel Group Corp, to fast track developments of its iron ore, coal and manganese projects. Baosteel would invest up to A$285.6 million in Aquila via a placement of up to 43.95 million shares at A$6.50 each, to give it a 15% stake.

In New Zealand, Auckland Airport rose 2.9% after its earnings report. "We've had enough disappointing results in New Zealand, so it's good to see there were no nasty surprises in Auckland Airport's earnings," said Dave Schaper, an adviser at Forsyth Barr.

Nuplex continued Thursday's rally on better-than-expected earnings, rising another 7.7%, while Telecom rose 2.2% and Air New Zealand was 2.4% higher.

In foreign exchange markets the euro was at Y134.77 from Y134.22 in New York, and at $1.4363, from $1.4362. The U.S. dollar was at Y93.79, from Y93.50. Traders in Tokyo said Japanese importers were buying both the U.S. dollar and the euro against the yen, but the market was otherwise fairly quiet.

Japanese government bonds were lower, tracking falls in U.S. long-end Treasurys in New York, with the lead September futures contract at 138.87, down 0.19 points.

LME metals were higher, with three-month copper up 2.4% vs from the London kerb at $6,420 a metric ton, aided by a rise in the euro in late U.S. trade. Spot gold was at $949.75 per troy ounce, up $1.55 from the New York close.