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(Updates with early markets)
HONG KONG, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Asian stock markets edged up on
Friday, breaking a six-session losing streak as investors picked
up beaten-down shares in a day likely to be dulled by holidays in
Japan and the United States.
All eyes are on Black Friday, the start of the major U.S.
holiday shopping season after Thursday's Thanksgiving break, to
gauge the health of consumers in Asia's top export destination.
At 0027 GMT, MSCI's measure of Asia Pacific stocks excluding
Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> had risen nearly 0.2 percent, struggling to
pull up from a fresh two-month low plumbed earlier.
South Korea's benchmark KOSPI <.KS11> climbed 0.5 percent, a
day after hitting a 3-month closing low, and Australia's key
S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> was barely changed, wallowing at
nine-week lows.
Investors bought some bank stocks after the recent battering,
sending Australia's top investment bank Macquarie Group <MQG.AX>
up 0.9 percent and South Korea's top lender Kookmin Bank
<060000.KS> 0.8 percent higher.
But the major miners stayed under pressure after copper
plumbed an eight-month low on Thursday. Mining giant BHP Billiton
<BHP.AX> slipped 0.5 percent. Take-over target Rio Tinto <RIO.AX>
dipped 0.2 percent.
Japanese financial markets are closed for Labour Thanksgiving
Day, while Wall Street was shut on Thursday for the Thanksgiving
holiday and will have a half-day session on Friday.
Asian stocks had been caught in a global downdraft sparked by
worries about the financial sector after many major banks such as
Citigroup <C.N> wrote off billions of dollars in credit-related
losses.
Worries that a deep U.S. housing slump and tight credit would
hit consumers have also cast a shadow over the health of the U.S.
economy.
"But in the short term, the recent falls are viewed as
overdone. With steady money inflows in stock funds, we'll likely
see a rebound," said Lee Jae-mahn, an analyst at Tongyang
Investment Bank in South Korea.
-- HEADLINES:
>Dollar hit by U.S. growth worry, stocks edge up [nL22420071]
>Oil eases below $97 a barrel, weak dollar supports [nSP148039]
>Fujitsu Q2 profit falls 62 pct; keeps outlook [nT265359]
>Samsung Elec to invest $2.2 bln on LCD expansion [nSEL000218]
>Web deals woo US shoppers from Thanksgiving table [nN20606681]
>ArcelorMittal in talks to up China Oriental stake [nL22648709]
>Japan Tobacco, Nissin to buy Katokichi in $1 bln bid[nT233306]
>Dollar marks Thanksgiving with new record lows [nL22683926]
>LME copper hits 8-month low, stocks keep rising [nL22434274]
--
TOP ASIA EVENTS:
For more Asian company earnings, see [ASIA/EQTY]
JAPAN - Markets closed, National holiday
HONG KONG - Sinotrans Shipping <0368.HK> lists
AUSTRALIA - Multiplex <MXG.AX> annual meeting
S.E ASIA - Singapore Oct CPI
- Thai finance ministry updates its forecasts for
Thai economy
--
(Reporting by Ian Chua; Editing by Valerie Lee)
(([email protected]; +852 2843-6540; Reuters Messaging:
[email protected]))
For top Asian company news, double click on: [nTOPEQA]
U.S. company news [TOP/EQU] European company news [TOP/EQE]
U.S. weekly outlook [.N/O] European weekly outlook [.EU/O]
Forex news [TOP/FRX] Global Economy news [TOP/MACRO]
Tech/Telecoms/Media [TOP/TMT] Banking news [TOP/FIN]
Political/General news [TOP/G] Asia Macro data <ECONASIA>
ASIA STOCK MARKETS:
Pan-Asia........[STXNEWS/AS] Japan.......[.T] S.Korea...[.KS]
S.E. Asia.......[.SO] Hong Kong...[.HK] Taiwan....[.TW]
Australia/NZ....[.AX] India.......[.BO] China.....[.SS]
DIARIES & DATA:
IPO diary/data <ASIA/IPOMENU> Asia earnings diary [ASIA/EQTY]
U.S. earnings diary [RESF/US] European diary [WEU/EQUITY]
Hong Kong diary [HK/DIARY] Wall Street Week Ahead [.N/O]
Eurostocks Week Ahead [.EU/O]
LIVE PRICES & DATA:
World Stocks <0#.INDEX> Asian Stocks <0#.INDEXA>
Dow Jones/NASDAQ <.DJI>/<.IXIC> Nikkei <.N225>
FTSE 100 <.FTSE> Debt <0#USBMK=> <EURIBOR>
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Keywords: MARKETS ASIA