Japan's Nikkei share average rose nearly 2 percent on Thursday, buoyed by confidence on Wall Street after reassuring earnings eclipsed weak data on the U.S. economy, which pinned the dollar near record lows against the euro, Reuters reported. Oil hit a new record high above $115 a barrel as the dollar's weakness and a fall in U.S. crude and gasoline inventories ahead of the summer driving season drew fund buying. European stock index futures pointed to a stronger start. By 0602 GMT, futures for the Eurostoxx 50 Germany's DAX and the French CAC 40 were up between 0.5 and 0.7 percent. Asian shares were bouyed by encouraging results from Intel Corp, IBM and JPMorgan Chase & Co, which overshadowed mostly gloomy news on the world's largest economy. A fall in U.S. housing starts to a 17-year low in data on Wednesday reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates again to cushion an economy threatened by recession. Japanese stocks were led by high-tech shares such as TDK Corp and Canon Inc, as the U.S. earnings reports soothed investors concerned about corporate profitability. "Some shares rose in tandem with earnings from their U.S. peers such as high-tech exporters, which got a boost from IBM's results," said Soichiro Monji, chief strategist of the equity management department at Daiwa SB Investments. The benchmark Nikkei average ended 1.9 percent higher, while MSCI's measure of other Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan rose 1 percent, trimming year-to-date losses to below 10 percent. Markets in Seoul, Sydney and Taiwan were up between 0.3 and 0.9 percent, and Singapore and Hong Kong posted gains of around 2 percent. The exception was China, where the main stock index fell 3.2 percent after the central bank announced a rise in commercial banks' reserve ratios to help curb inflation. International Business Machines Corp reported unexpectedly strong quarterly results on Wednesday and raised its 2008 outlook, lifting the outlook for technology companies. Financial stocks also benefitted after solid results from JPMorgan and Wells Fargo & Co heartened investors who had been counting on the big banks to fare better than rivals in coping with the U.S. mortgage meltdown and global credit crunch.
