*
Asian shares gain as governments act against downturn
*
Yen,
dollar, other safe-havens fall amid improved mood
*
Oil edges higher day after steep falls
* G7 financial leaders to meet this weekend (Adds European open, latest Asian
prices)
HONG KONG, Feb 13 - Asian shares reversed three sessions of losses to gain on Friday on hopes that government efforts worldwide, including talk of a
U.S. subsidy for
mortgage payments, would soften the blow of the global downturn.
European shares rose in early trading, led by financials on news of the U.S. subsidy plan. The FTSEurofirst 300 was up 1.7 percent and other major indexes were up a similar amount.
News the U.S.
government was hammering out a programme to subsidise mortgages for homeowners before they fall into loan arrears, first reported by Reuters, helped Wall Street stage a late recovery that extended into gains in Asian
markets.
Those efforts came as the U.S. Congress prepares to vote on Friday on the $789 billion economic stimulus bill and Australia passed a A$42 billion ($27.4 billion)
economic stimulus package.
But optimism was tempered by the tough outlook facing the global economy. Asian stock markets were marginally lower for the week, and down about 5 percent for the year.
"The news about the U.S. mortgage
payments plan has temporarily spurred short-covering," said Takahiko Murai, general manager of equities at Nozomi Securities.
"The bank and economic measures by the U.S. government so far have lacked details and that is a problem. What the market wants to know is how and by when the government will enact measures that prove to be effective."
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan advanced 2.4 percent as of 0830 GMT, following a 3.5 percent decline over the previous three sessions.
After a tough 2008, global markets have yet to convincingly recover amid doubts about the economic outlook, despite multi-pronged efforts by policy makers worldwide that have included tax cuts and lower interest
rates.
The occasional signs of hope -- such as an unexpected rebound in sales at U.S. retailers in January -- have been tempered by many other indicators of just how tough things are getting with the world's main engines of growth mired in recession.
Toyota Motor Corp on Thursday offered buyouts to some 18,000 U.S. workers and said it would cut pay for executives and blue-collar workers in its North American manufacturing operations in response to plunging auto sales.
The global financial sector remains another concern as the United States finalises a new bank rescue plan that would put $2 trillion to work mopping up bad assets and restoring credit.
DBS Group, Southeast Asia's biggest bank, posted on Friday a bigger-than-expected 40 percent drop in quarterly
profit, marking its worst results in three years. That follows poor results at South Korean lenders including Kookmin Bank, part of KB Financial Group.
G7 MEETING
On Friday at least, investors had a reprieve.
Japan's Nikkei advanced 1 percent. Among other major indexes, the biggest gains were posted in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan and India, which advanced 2-3 percent.
Shares in South Korea, Australia, Singapore gained at least 1 percent.
The improved mood among global
investors comes ahead of this weekend's G7 meeting of
financial leaders, though little in terms of actual policy is expected to emerge.
Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa on Friday joined a growing call for G7 finance heads to take steps this weekend to rescue the worsening global economy.
"The world
economy is in a very severe situation at the moment, so I want (the G7) to frankly
exchange views on such economic conditions and the outlook, and discuss policy steps to help stabilise the world economy," Shirakawa told a media conference.
U.S. crude futures advanced 47 cents to $34.45 a barrel, after dropping 5.5 percent on Thursday to settle at its lowest point in nearly two months due to concerns over swelling crude stocks in the United States.
Assets that had previously benefited from safe-haven bids retreated, with both the dollar and yen falling.
The
euro rose 0.4 percent to $1.2914 and climbed 0.4 percent to 117.53 yen.
The passage of a stimulus package in
Australia, helped the Aussie advance to $0.6572 from the day's low of $0.6523. That was still a touch below $0.6584 seen late on Thursday.
Japanese government bonds were little changed. March 10-year futures rose 0.06 point to 139.36 after dipping to an intraday low of 139.18. The contract jumped nearly a full point on Thursday.
The
benchmark JGB 10-year yield was unchanged at 1.255 percent, having brushed a two-week low of 1.250 percent on Thursday.
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Iceland Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir asked the country’s three central bank governors to resign and will present a new banking bill tomorrow.
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