The Associated Press
Monday, October 25, 2010; 4:39 AM
BANGKOK -- Asian stock markets rose Monday after a weekend meeting of global finance chiefs vowed to avoid a currency war that could derail the global economic recovery. European markets gained.
Shares in Australia got an added boost from news the Singapore Exchange is making a takeover offer for the Australian stock market operator, sending the ASX's stock price up more than 20 percent.
Oil prices, meanwhile, jumped to near $83 a barrel as the dollar weakened against the euro and fell to a fresh 15-year low against the yen, making the commodity cheaper for investors holding those currencies.
The two-day meeting of finance mandarins from the Group of 20 major advanced and emerging nations resolved to avoid weakening currencies to boost exports - a scenario that could cause a trade war. The group's statement, however, fell short of imposing any measurable targets
Nations in Asia and other regions have been trying to stem strength in their currencies amid sustained weakness in the U.S. dollar out of fear their exports will become less competitive. At the same time, China's currency, the yuan, has been effectively pegged to the greenback, provoking criticism it is being kept artificially low and giving the country's exporters an unfair advantage.
"The agreement the finance ministers reached is being interpreted by the market as a go-ahead to the U.S. to further devalue the dollar, that the developing countries won't partake in a competitive currency devaluation," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Pervin & Gertz in Singapore. "It's a signal to the market that some more weakening of the U.S. dollar will probably be tolerated by everybody else."
Asia relying less on exports for growth is seen as one of the adjustments that nations should make to ensure more stability in the global economy and markets in the aftermath of the global recession. Asian currencies rising against the U.S. dollar would help reduce so called "global imbalances" - a reference to the region's vast trade and current account surpluses and America's overreliance on debt-fueled consumption.
In early European trading, France's CAC-40 gained 0.6 percent to 3,891.07, Germany's DAX added 0.8 percent to 6,656.25 and Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 0.8 percent to 5,788.48.
Wall Street was set to gain with Dow futures ahead by 59 points, or 0.5 percent, to 11,149.00. Broader S&P futures rose 7.5, or 0.6 percent, to 1,188.20.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index bucked the gains in Asia, falling 25.55, or 0.3 percent, to 9,401.16 as the yen strengthened and the country's exports grew at their slowest pace this year in September, hit by cooling foreign demand and the yen's rise.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 1.3 percent to 4,710.00 amid news the Singapore Exchange is making a $8.3 billion takeover offer for ASX, the operator of the Australian stock market.
The combined exchange company would be the world's fifth-largest by market value and rank as the second-largest stock market in Asia by number of listed companies, the two exchanges said in a joint statement. ASX shares surged more than 20 percent.
South Korea's Kospi added 1 percent to 1,915.71 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.9 percent to 23,732.05.
The Shanghai Composite Index vaulted 2.6 percent to 3,051.42 as investors recovered confidence following last week's interest rate hike. Elsewhere, markets in Singapore, Taiwan and India also rose.
In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 14.01 points, or 0.1 percent, to 11,132.56.
In currencies, the euro rose to $1.4030 from $1.3952 in New York late Friday. The dollar fell to 80.52 yen from 81.50 yen.
Benchmark crude for December delivery rose $1.21 to $82.90 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.13 to settle at $81.69 on Friday.
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Associated Press researcher Ji Chen in Shanghai and AP writers Alex Kennedy in Singapore and Shino Yuasa in Tokyo contributed to this story.
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