HONG KONG - Asian stocks rose from 1-1/2-month lows on Thursday, with buying focused in the tech and retail sectors on hopes for a busy US shopping season, though the falling Australian dollar was an indication of investors' reduced willingness to take risks. Major European stock markets saw modest early gains, with the FTSEurofirst 300 opening up 0.2 per cent (.FTEU3) and London's FTSE 100 up 0.1 per cent (.FTSE). US stock index futures were down 0.3 per cent. The euro was stuck near a two-month low on fears about the next fiscal domino to fall in Europe, even after Ireland hatched a plan to shore up its finances, with the single currency poised for the largest monthly decline against the dollar since May. A rare bit of good news on the US labor market overnight sparked hopes the holiday season would result in big sales for Asia's exporters, though other factors such as the closing window on Hong Kong's once red-hot IPO market were signals that equity markets may have topped out for the year. More than $3 billion worth of proposed IPOs in Hong Kong were deferred, while Hongkong Electric Holdings Ltd (0006.HK) put off pricing its 10-year dollar bond until next week. "Usually, if there is a lot of hot money coming to Hong Kong, these IPOs should be doing well," said Belle Liang, research head at Core Pacific-Yamaichi. "IPOs are being delayed or withdrawn because of lackluster demand." Japan's Nikkei share average closed 0.5 per cent higher (.N225) , extending what has been a surprising outperformance this month compared with the rest of the region. The Nikkei has risen 9.5 per cent so far in November, and with three more trading days to go in November is on track for the best performing month since March. The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) is down 0.7 per cent in November. The index was up 0.4 per cent on the day, largely driven higher by 1 per cent gains in the technology and consumer discretionary sectors. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.4 per cent (.HSI), supported by a 5.7 per cent pop in shares of Li & Fung (0494.HK), an exporter that supplies Western retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target. Li & Fung stock hit a record high and was trading at 1.7 times its average volume of the past 30 days, one of the busiest stocks in the index. For the most part, the near-term outlook for emerging Asian stocks was to a large extent dependent on how policymakers respond to inflationary pressures. "With growth above potential in many emerging markets, particularly in Asia, the risk of broad-based inflation is real and growing," Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note. "And, as policy responds to this in the form of rate hikes or nominal currency appreciation, equities - stuck between the pull of growth and the push of tightening policy - are likely to have a bumpier ride." The Thanksgiving holiday in the United States will keep trading activity limited on Thursday. Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is traditionally the busiest US shopping day of the year. The need for liquidity has not necessarily benefited US Treasuries, though higher yields have been a draw to the dollar. After poor auctions of mid-maturity debt, the US 5-year yield hit a two-month high of 1.59 per cent overnight, having now risen more than 50 basis points since the most recent Federal Reserve meeting. Meanwhile, the US dollar index , a measure of its performance against six other major currencies, was up 0.1 per cent, heading back up to 80.00, a level that was test overnight when the index hit the highest since Sept 24. The high-yielding Australian and New Zealand dollars were underperformers among G10 currencies on Thursday. Uncertainty about what measures China may take to pull down inflation has haunted these currencies.
