Asian shares mixed, oil up as Egypt uprising

HONG KONG: Asian shares were mixed on Friday in edgy trade and oil surged amid rising tensions in Egypt after President Hosni Mubarak enraged protesters by saying he would not step down.

Hong Kong was 0.22 percent higher after losing almost two percent on Thursday while Shanghai extended the previous session's gains and rose 0.35 percent. Seoul gained 0.22 percent.

Sydney shed 0.35 percent after seven straight days of gains, while Singapore was 0.35 percent off.

Tokyo's Nikkei was closed for a public holiday.

Global markets are keeping an eye on events in Egypt amid concerns the violence could spill over to the rest of the already volatile Middle East.

The crisis in Egypt took a fresh turn on Thursday when Mubarak called a news conference amid speculation he was about to resign, lifting hopes to protests that have gripped the country for more than three weeks.

However, he said in the televised announcement that he would not leave office until after September elections, instead delegating some powers to his vice president and enraging demonstrators.

More than 200,000 protesters massed in central Tahrir Square, vowing to stage their most spectacular demonstration yet on Friday, sparking fears of violence in Cairo.

"The market is left with a risk aversion scenario," HiFX senior trader Stuart Ive in Auckland told Dow Jones Newswires.

"He hasn't left (the presidency) and there is a clear threat from the people in the street who want him gone now. It leaves a lot of questions."

Oil prices, which had eased slightly at the start of the week on hopes the protests were subsiding, jumped back on Friday.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in March gained 69 cents to $101.56 on the contract's last trading day.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for March delivery, soared 83 cents to $87.56 per barrel.

While Egypt is not a major crude producer traders fears a conflict in Egypt could disrupt supplies passing through the Suez Canal, which carries about 2.4 million barrels of oil daily, roughly equal to the output of Iraq or Brazil.

In Seoul the central bank cited the violence in Egypt as part of the reason it kept interest rates on hold, despite increasing concerns over inflation.

The decision, however, did give a lift to the Kospi stock index, although the won eased slightly against the dollar.

On Wall Street the Dow eased 0.09 percent Thursday, snapping an eight-session rally.

In early Asian forex trade the dollar rose to 83.37 yen from 83.20 yen in late Thursday New York trade, while it also picked up against the euro, with the single currency fetching $1.3570 in Tokyo, from $1.3601.

The euro fetched 113.14 yen, compared with 113.18 late Thursday.

And in Vietnam the central bank devalued the dong for the fourth time in 15 months, reducing it by 9.3 percent against the greenback in a bid to keep a lid on accelerating inflation, which stood at more than 12 percent last month.

Gold opened at $1,363.50-$1,364.50 an ounce in Hong Kong, down from Wednesday's close of $1,364.00-$1,365.00.