HONG KONG: Asian stocks rose in early trade Friday following rallies on Wall Street and in Europe, but dealers said the market remained volatile after a rollercoaster week.
Tokyo gained 0.17 percent by the break, Hong Kong rose 1.47 percent and Sydney jumped 1.40 percent while Shanghai added 0.65 percent and Seoul was 1.04 percent higher. Taipei put on 0.85 percent.
Regional investors took their lead from the United States and Europe, where equities markets posted solid gains, but against a background of intense volatility and lingering global uncertainty.
Shares globally have swung wildly since the head of the European Commission said last Thursday that the eurozone debt crisis had likely spread into other economies from those on the periphery of the bloc.
Then last Friday Standard & Poor's downgraded the United States' credit rating for the first time in history, sending traders into a panic and stoking fears that the world's number one economy could sink back into recession.
The US Federal Reserve on Tuesday moved to stem the selling by assuring investors that it would not raise interest rates for at least the next two years.
"The high volatility in US and European stocks are likely to continue for some time until fundamental issues are addressed," Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Helped by strong new earnings reports from News Corporation and Cisco, gains on the Dow in Wall Street topped 5.1 percent before it closed up 3.94 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 4.69.
Europe's bourses also posted solid gains, turning around after French President Nicolas Sarkozy called a eurozone crisis meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel aimed at shoring up the eurozone.
But concerns about the triggers of the recent volatility -- the eurozone debt problems, the downgrade of the US credit rating by Standard & Poor's, and slowing growth worldwide, remain.
On currency markets, the US dollar remained under pressure on fears of a slowdown in the United States and on deep worries about the eurozone debt crisis.
The dollar stood at 76.82 yen, slightly down from 76.88 in late New York trade on Thursday, and hovering just above the record low of 76.25 yen.
The euro was at $1.4197 from $1.4238, while it edged down to 109.09 yen from 109.29 yen.
The Australian dollar was fetching 103.20 US cents early Friday, up from Thursday's close of 102.87.
Oil slipped, with New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in September, fell 47 cents to $85.25 per barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for September delivery dipped 57 cents to $107.45.
Gold opened at $1,754.00-$1,755.00 an ounce in Hong Kong, down from Thursday's close of $1,782.50-$1,783.50. The precious metal had surged early Thursday to a record above $1,800.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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