Asian Stocks Head Higher On Weaker Yen

Asian trade: Asian stocks opened up higher led by technology and financial shares. The drop seen in the yen’s value over the last few sessions lifted the investor’s mood.

The Japanese Yen posted the first significant decline in the last period, something that should help exporters. The Asian economies are mainly based on their export market, so a weaker currency allows companies more room to tackle the financial crisis. Canon, one of Japan’s largest makers of digital cameras said that for every yen gained, the company losses 9.1 billion yen.

Yesterday, the IMF showed its support for the creation of the “bad bank”, which would buy most of the illiquid assets from the banking system. The IMF notes that in order for the “bad bank” to work properly, the approach should ensure maximum transparency and should reduce uncertainty. Until now, the present and the past administrations failed to overcome these two vital characteristics. In the same report, the IMF reiterated its forecasts made earlier this month, saying that it expects a 0.5% global growth, the slowest since the Second World War, and 1.6% contraction in the U.S GDP in 2009.

Tonight, the Nikkei added 199.68 points (2.51%) to 8,149.34. The Australian S&P/Asx rose 37.50 points (1.09%) to 3,466.10.

Crude oil is trading in the same small range for the past three days. Crude oil for March delivery fell $0.10 to $40.80.

Gold is again trading above the $900 benchmark. Bullion for immediate delivery rose $2.10 to $910.90.

Previous Wall Street trade: At the close of floor trading on the NYSE the DOW was on 8063.07 after gaining 106.41 points (1.34%) while the S&P finished on 845.83, up 13.60 points (1.63%). Meanwhile, the tech-heavy NASDAQ closed on 1546.26 after rising 31.19 points (2.06%). Bonds were bought on the worsening job numbers; the yield on the 2-year note fell 0.3 basis points to 0.974% while yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell 2.1 basis points to 2.913%. The dollar traded mostly in risk-acceptance mode, gaining 0.39% on the euro but falling 1.69% against Australia's currency and 1.13% against the pound while it gained a massive 2.02% the yen.

Previous European Trade: European stocks fell early as results at companies from Swiss Reinsurance to Unilever showed the recession is battering profits, but finished with a small gain as U.S. stocks improved. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.33 points (0.01%) to 4,228.93 while the German DAX 30 closed up 17.70 points (0.39%) to 4,510.49