Asian stock markets struggled for direction Thursday as uncertainties
about the health of the global economy kept investor enthusiasm in
check ahead of President Barack Obama's jobs speech.
Benchmark oil rose above $89 a barrel and the dollar strengthened against the euro and the yen.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.5 percent to 8,804.62 as a
softening yen helped Japan's exporters by making their products cheaper
overseas. Office equipment-maker Canon Inc. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp.,
which relies heavily on exports to North America, both gained 1
percent.
South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2 percent at 1,837.52. Benchmarks in
Taiwan, Malaysia, New Zealand and the Philippines were also higher. But
Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.8 percent to 19,881.80 and Australia's
S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3 percent at 4,170.20.
Wall Street stocks rose sharply Wednesday after a German court
backed the country's role in bailing out smaller, debt-wracked European
nations and Italy approved a controversial austerity package to stave
off a budget and loan crisis of its own.
The European Central Bank had demanded stiff austerity measures
from Italy, but it's not clear whether the package is sufficient. The
ECB has spent billions over the last month buying up Italian government
bonds to get Italy's borrowing costs lower and help it avoid becoming
the next European nation to need an international bailout.
Traders are also hoping that President Barack Obama will
announce a $300 billion jobs package made up of tax cuts, state aid and
infrastructure spending in an address to Congress on Thursday night.
The U.S. job market needs big help. In August, the economy
added no new jobs. And the unemployment rate is 9.1 percent, a level
more typical for a recession than for a recovery in its third year.
Worries over weakness in the U.S. job market and Europe's
massive debt predicament have led to recent heavy losses on global stock
markets.
But investment sentiment improved after a Federal Reserve
survey Wednesday showed that the U.S. economy grew modestly in its 12
bank regions in July and August as consumers spent more.
The Dow
surged 2.5 percent to close at 11,414.86. The Standard and Poor's 500
index jumped 2.9 percent to 1,198.62. The Nasdaq composite shot up 3
percent to 2,548.94.
Benchmark crude for October delivery was up 10 cents to $89.44 a
barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The
contract jumped $3.32 to finish at $89.34 per barrel on the Nymex on
Wednesday.
Oil surged nearly 4 percent Wednesday on the expectation that
tropical storms will further hamper oil production in the Gulf of Mexico
and squeeze supplies.
In currency trading, the dollar rose to 77.38 yen from 77.25
yen in late trading Wednesday in New York. The euro fell to $1.4057 from
$1.4093
