Asia steady as investors eye Fed
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -- Asian stocks were mostly higher on Monday, led by selected technology and metals firms, while oil extended gains and the dollar edged up ahead of an expected U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate rise on Tuesday.
Gains in Asia were capped by the absence of Japanese investors, who observed a national holiday, and by concerns about the strength of upcoming corporate earnings reports.
Japan has another holiday on Thursday and few scheduled economic events.
The MSCI index of Asian share markets outside Japan was up 0.3 percent by 0620 GMT to more than a four-month high, while its technology component was down 0.2 percent.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which hit a new record high of 3,639.1, closed 0.1 percent lower at 3628.7.
Standouts included BHP Billiton, which climbed 2.5 percent, after earlier hitting a new high of A$14.00, and fellow global miner Rio Tinto added 1.4 percent.
"Where we go from there, I don't know. There is still some value out there in the market place, but it is just finding the right stock to be in," said Austock Stockbroking private client adviser Peter Cuthbertson.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.2 percent after hitting a six-month high of 13,281.98. Lenovo Group, China's largest PC maker, rose 5.8 percent on an improving quarterly outlook for the sector.
Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (Chalco), the world's second-largest alumina producer, jumped 4 percent after it said it had raised its alumina contract sales price by 4.8 percent.
South Korea's benchmark index rose 1.03 percent. Technology shares were among the gainers, with LG Electronics Inc., the world's top maker of air conditioners and the sixth-biggest cell-phone maker, up 0.6 percent.
LG said its overall sales fell 2.1 percent in August from July, but mobile handset sales rose by 0.4 percent in the month.
Shares in world-leading memory-chip maker Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. slid 0.1 percent after predicting annual global semiconductor sales growth would fall by half in 2005 and memory chip sales growth could collapse, as prices were sapped by a supply glut.
Hynix Semiconductor Inc. shares fell 2.3 percent after South Korea's financial regulator said the chip maker violated accounting rules between 1999 and 2003.
Singapore's Straits Times Index dropped 0.3 percent.
Taiwan's benchmark index rose 0.8 percent on expectations of more stable Chinese economic policies after a smooth leadership transition. Its steel subindex was up over three percent.
Analysts said the handover of the military portfolio from Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao on Sunday would lend stability to China's long-term economic development, helping lift the shares of industrial companies that export to the mainland market.
Eyes on Fed
Investors were expecting the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates 25 basis points to 1.75 percent on Tuesday. Analysts said investors would be looking beyond the Fed's third rate rise of the year to signals on jobs, corporate investment and consumer spending that could show whether the U.S. economy is recovering.
The dollar bought about 109.97 yen, up slightly from 109.88 in New York trade on Friday. The euro stood at $1.2168 from $1.2177 in late New York.
U.S. light crude jumped to the day's peak at $45.89 a barrel before easing to $45.85, up 26 cents. On Friday, crude surged nearly four percent on worries the U.S. hurricane season would continue to hamper energy production and imports in the Gulf of Mexico.
Spot gold recouped early losses to trade near 405.25 an ounce versus $405.50 in late U.S. trade on Friday.
