Asia stocks mostly higher ahead of ECB meeting

Hong Kong: Asian markets extended their rally this week, while the euro dipped ahead of a much-anticipated European Central Bank policy meeting that is forecast to see it introduce more monetary easing measures.

Tokyo added 0.28 percent, or 48.54 points, to end at 17,329.02, Sydney rose 0.49 percent, or 26.56 points, to 5,419.94 and Seoul was flat, dipping a marginal 0.41 points to 1,920.82.

Hong Kong rose 0.70 percent, or 170.05 points, to 24,522.63 and Shanghai gained 0.59 percent, or 19.73 points, to 3,343.34. The mainland China index has recovered almost all the losses it made on Monday in reaction to a regulatory crackdown on margin trading.

Eyes are firmly on the ECB meeting later Thursday, with expectations high that it will unveil a programme of asset-purchasing, or quantitative easing (QE).

Speculation has been rife for several months that more stimulus would be announced as inflation continues to weaken -- prices in the euro area fell in December for the first time in five years.

According to analysts at UniCredit, the market is expecting the ECB to unveil a programme worth between 500 and 800 billion euros ($580 to $930 billion).

Wall Street took its rally into a third day Wednesday, the Dow ending up 0.22 percent, the S&P 500 adding 0.47 percent and the Nasdaq 0.27 percent higher.

With traders placing bets on a vast round of easing the euro has been hammered in the past few weeks, especially as it comes just a few months after the US Federal Reserve wound up its own QE programme and considers an interest rate hike this year.

At one point last week the single currency fell below $1.1500 for the first time since late 2003.

In afternoon trade Thursday it bought $1.1624 and 136.78 yen compared with $1.1607 and 136.85 yen in US trade.

"The euro decision is kind of well telegraphed but euro-dollar does have more to go on the downside," Thomas Averill, a managing director in Sydney at Rochford Capital, told Bloomberg News. "The eurozone economy seems pretty sluggish at the moment and needs QE."

The dollar was 117.66 yen against 117.90 yen in New York.

Oil prices were largely flat after enjoying a rare fillip Wednesday. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March delivery rose just 10 cents to $47.88 and Brent rose 42 cents to $49.45.

On Wednesday WTI jumped $1.31 and Brent climbed $1.04.
Gold fetched $1,286.66 an ounce, against $1,300.64 late Wednesday.

In other markets:

-- Kuala Lumpur rose 0.66 percent, or 11.66 points, to 1,781.75.
Public Bank rose 0.56 percent to 17.84 ringgit, RHB Capital gained 0.13 percent to 7.73 while Malayan Banking was flat at 8.87 ringgit.

-- Jakarta rose 0.73 percent, or 37.92 points, to 5,253.18.
State miner Aneka Tambang rose 0.48 percent to 1,055 rupiah while palm oil producer Astra Agro Lestari fell 0.72 percent to 24,000 rupiah.

-- Singapore rose 0.47 percent, or 15.83 points, to 3,370.29.
Real estate developer Capitaland gained 0.59 percent to Sg$3.42 while United Overseas Bank rose 0.64 percent to Sg$23.50.

-- Mumbai rose 0.41 percent, or 117.16 points, to end at 29,006.02 points.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose 3.85 percent to 920.05 rupees, while National Thermal Power Corporation fell 2.30 percent to 140.20 rupees.

-- Bangkok rose 1.49 percent, or 22.98 points, to 1,560.34.
Bank of Ayudhya soared 8.98 percent to 69.75 baht, while Thai Oil climbed 7.22 percent to 48.25 baht.

-- Taipei rose 0.53 percent, or 49.80 points, to 9,369.51.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. fell 0.71 percent to Tw$140.0 while Acer ticked up 0.74 percent to Tw$20.45.

-- Wellington slipped 0.45 percent, or 25.71 points, to 5,647.14.
Spark fell 1.83 percent to NZ$3.215 while Fletcher Building was down 1.78 percent at NZ$8.27.

-- Manila fell 0.77 percent, or 57.79 points, to 7,416.31.
JG Summit Holdings plunged 11.16 percent to 62.10 pesos, Metropolitan Bank dropped 2.86 percent to 90.00 pesos and Ayala Land ended 0.29 percent down at 34.85 pesos. (AFP)