Asia stocks rise before Europe bank tests, Bernanke

HONG KONG — China stocks and a rebound on Wall Street lifted Asian markets on Wednesday as investors anxiously await comments by US Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and stress tests on European banks.

Hong Kong finished the day up 1.10 percent and Shanghai up 0.26 percent, while Mumbai rose 0.55 percent on optimism about Indian companies' earnings.

Hong Kong's rise was led by property and infrastructure stocks such as China Resources Power (up 2.78 percent) and New World Development (up 3.51 percent).

In Shanghai, alternative energy stocks got a boost after a report that the National Energy Administration would submit to cabinet a clean energy development plan entailing investment of 737.5 billion dollars from 2011-2020.

Solar panel maker Baoding Tianwei Baobian Electric Co was up 4.3 percent and Guangdong Baolihua New Energy 10 percent.

Airlines also provided support after the Civil Aviation Administration announced a sharp rise in Chinese carriers' passenger numbers in the first half of 2010. China Southern Airlines was up 3.3 percent and China Eastern Airlines 5.9 percent.

"Volumes have recovered to a healthy level and stocks are expected to gain some support ahead of earnings announcements in August," Zhang Gang, an analyst from Southwest Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Mumbai's 30-share Sensex index rose 99.09 points to 17,977.23, with the world's eighth largest steel maker, Tata Steel, gaining 4.01 percent and aluminium maker Hindalco up 2.32 percent.

But Tokyo was down 0.23 percent amid continued worries about the US and global economies.

Earlier, US stocks managed to reverse early heavy losses, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing up 0.74 percent.

But worries about the US economy increased after the Commerce Department reported housing starts had plunged in June and Goldman Sachs said its profits had fallen 82 percent in the second quarter compared to the year before.

"People are sceptical about how the US markets reversed yesterday's losses," commented Masatoshi Sato, senior strategist at Mizuho Investors Securities, quoted by Dow Jones.

Elsewhere, Sydney closed up 0.21 percent, with BHP Billiton rising 1.17 percent after posting strong production results, and Rio Tinto up 1.95 percent.

Jakarta posted a record-high close of 3,013.40, buoyed by optimism about first-half earnings. Nickel miner Antam rose 2.8 percent, while cigarette maker Gudang Garam climbed 3.7 percent.

World stock markets are still anxiously awaiting comments by US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to Congress on Wednesday and Thursday, hoping for a lead on the mixed signals emerging from the world's largest economy.

In addition, investors are awaiting the results on Friday of "stress tests" on 91 European banks, intended to assess how they would withstand further financial or economic crises.

Currency markets shared the cautious mood, with the dollar moving just slightly against the euro and other currencies.

The euro fetched 1.2877 dollars in Tokyo afternoon trade, a touch down from 1.2893 late Tuesday in New York, where the single European currency briefly topped 1.30 to hit a 10-week high. The euro dropped to 112.12 yen from 112.70. The dollar slipped to 87.09 yen, down from 87.38 yen in New York.

On oil markets investors were also cautious ahead of a closely watched weekly inventory report on US energy supplies.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, gained 15 cents to 77.73 dollars a barrel, while London's Brent North Sea crude for September was 14 cents higher at 76.36 dollars in the afternoon.

Gold closed at 1,189.50-1,190.50 US dollars an ounce in Hong Kong, up from Tuesday's close of 1,182.00-1,183.00 dollars.

In other markets:

-- Manila closed up 0.38 percent, or 13.02 points, at 3,418.71 boosted by Wall Street and positive domestic news, as the International Monetary Fund said it expected the Philippines to grow 6.0 percent this year.

Ayala Land rose 3.51 percent and SM Investments 2.89 percent. Top-traded Philippine Long Distance Telephone fell 0.21 percent.

-- Taipei lost 0.14 percent, or 10.74 points, to 7,701.29.

MediaTek, the island's leading integrated circuit design house, fell 1.28 percent, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp closed up 0.49 percent.

-- Seoul closed up 0.69 percent, or 12.01 points, at 1,748.78.

-- Wellington closed up 0.27 percent, or 8.04 points, at 3,003.41 following leads from overseas but with trading levels light.

Fletcher Building was up one cent at 7.70 dollars. Telecom rose three cents to 1.96 and Contact Energy gained three cents to 5.79.

-- Singapore closed down 0.76 percent, or 22.52 points, at 2,926.09.

Property developer Keppel Land fell three cents to 4.18 and national carrier Singapore Airlines dived 24 cents to 14.74.

-- Kuala Lumpur closed up 0.25 percent, or 3.35 points, at 1,341.02.

Leading bank CIMB gained 1.30 percent, while gaming group Berjaya Corp shed 2.70 percent and glove maker Top Glove lost 1.50 percent.

-- Bangkok closed up 0.79 percent, or 6.52 points, at 830.93, after the government said exports had leapt 46.3 percent in June from a year earlier to 18.04 billion dollars, the highest level since records began in 1976.