UPDATE: Asian Shares Higher; Bullish RBA Boosts Aussie Shrs

SINGAPORE -- Asian share markets were higher Tuesday with liquid-crystal-display stocks rising in Taiwan and South Korea, while Australia's market was buoyed by bullish comments on the economy from the country's central bank.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 1.4%, with Japan's Nikkei 225 up 1.1% and Korea's Kospi Composite 0.4% higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 0.6% higher after touching a fresh 14-month high, while Shanghai's benchmark was up 0.9%. Taiwan shares were up 0.3% and New Zealand's NZX-50 had added 1.0%.

Average futures were up 32 points in screen trade, with Nasdaq futures up 1.1%.

Risk appetite continued to spur emerging market assets and the Australian dollar, while Nymex front-month crude oil briefly nosed over $80 a barrel on Globex.

Despite the gains already made in recent times, "it's clear the market is itching to creep higher because the macro environment we're dealing with just keeps looking more and more promising everyday. Companies too are showing that consumers are still spending and that investment portfolios are growing," said David Taylor, a market analyst at CMC Markets.

"We're still in a stimulus-laden environment though and volumes continue to remain subdued," he added.

Australia's market got a boost from the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's October 6 policy meeting which showed it now expected the economy to return to average rates of growth in 2010, and then "strengthen somewhat". The minutes also showed the RBA remained upbeat on the contribution the resources sector would make to the economy over the medium term.

"What really stands out is how broadly-based the improvement is in growth and the (RBA's) confidence in the resilience of that," said Macquarie Bank economist Brian Redican.

Financial stocks were higher, with NAB up 1.7%. Stronger commodity prices and the RBA's outlook for the mining industry also helped metal stocks with BHP up 2.3%, Rio Tinto up 3.1% and Equinox Minerals up 4.6%.

But Oil Search fell 7.0% after Monday's news of the termination of a deal designed to help fund its share of the proposed US$15 billion Exxon Mobil-led PNG LNG project in Papua New Guinea, with the company undertaking an A$895 million institutional share placement.

After early gains on reassuring earnings from U.S. bellwethers Apple and Texas Instruments, tech plays in Asia were a little mixed: Tokyo Electron was up 1.4% though Toshiba had erased its rise and was down 0.4%, with Samsung Electronics slipping 0.1% in Korea.

LG Display was 2.8% higher in Seoul, aided by news of a weekend power outage at Corning's LCD glass manufacturing plant in Taiwan, which may improve LCD supply-demand fundamentals. In Taiwan, AU Optronics rose 1.9% with Chi Mei Opto up 0.6%.

Hong Kong property developers continued their rally with Sun Hung Kai Properties up 1.5% and Sino Land up 1.1%. Times Ltd jumped 15.0% after Korea's Lotte Shopping agreed to buy the Chinese supermarket chain for HK$4.87 billion.

Elsewhere in the region Singapore shares were up 0.1%, Thail shares up 1.0%, and Malaysian shares 0.4% higher. Philippines shares rose 0.7% but Indonesia stocks were 0.1% lower.

The euro was higher against the U.S. dollar in currency trade, as the dollar remained under pressure around the globe. The single currency was at $1.4977, from $1.4943 late in New York, though against the yen it slipped to Y135.33, from Y135.40, while the U.S. dollar was down at Y90.35, from Y90.61.

Australia's dollar continued to march higher, briefly touching US$0.9305, its best level in 14 months. It was more recently at US$0.9282.

Societe Generale strategist Patrick Bennett said the RBA's minutes were "unequivocally bullish" for the Australian dollar as interest rates looked like going up more quickly than initially expected. He added there were "no warning signs" for bulls.

Lead December Japanese government bond futures slipped 0.13 to 138.70 points, while the yield on the 10-year note was up one basis point at 1.345% after the Nikkei reported the country's Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii as indicating the government may end up issuing Y50 trillion in deficit-covering bonds in the current fiscal year, versus the original estimate of Y44 trillion.

Spot gold was up $2.90 from New York levels, at $1,066.40 a troy ounce.

LME three-month copper though was $33 lower from the London kerb, at $6,435 a metric ton in heavy volume.

Front-month Nymex crude oil futures were 29 cents higher at $79.90 per barrel on Globex, having touched $80.05, a year-high.