HONG KONG: Asian markets rebounded on Tuesday after a three-day sell-off as renewed fears over eurozone debt were soothed after the European Central Bank indicated it could step in if needed.
However, ongoing jitters over the strength of the global economy kept a lid on sentiment while geopolitical concerns weighed asNorth Koreaplans a rocket launch.
Tokyoadded 0.15 percent by the break,Hong Kongwas 0.10 percent higher,Sydneyadded 0.45 percent andShanghaigained 0.20 percent butSeoulfell 0.90 percent.
The gains bring an end to recent selling pressure sparked by weakUSjobs data last week, another set of poor Chinese economic figures and fresh anxiety thatSpaincould be engulfed in a Greece-style debt crisis.
A slump inAsiaon Wednesday followed Wall Street andEuropeafter bond yields forMadridshot to highs not seen since December on fears recent austerity measures could send it deeper into recession.
But investors took heart from ECB board member Benoit Coeure, who suggested that markets were overestimating the extent ofSpain's problems and did not rule out additional purchases of sovereign debt by the central bank.
Spain's benchmark 10-year bond yields eased to 5.87 percent from 5.94 percent.
Stocks inNew YorkandEuropealso bounced back on Wednesday.
London's FTSE 100 index added 0.70 percent,Frankfurt's DAX 30 rose 1.03 percent and the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.62 percent, while the Madrid Ibex 35 was 1.93 percent higher.
On Wall Street the Dow closed up 0.70 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.74 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.84 percent.
But Mitul Kotecha, strategist at Credit Agricole, warned that renewed debt worries "will not fade quickly while growth concerns have been reignited by last week's weaker than expected US jobs report".
The euro edged back up on the news and bought $1.3117 in earlyTokyotrade, from $1.3108 late Wednesday inNew Yorkwhile it also rose to 106.26 yen from 106.00 yen. The dollar was at 80.91 yen against 80.86 yen.
On Wednesday inAsiathe euro was buying $1.3101 and 105.90 yen as traders shifted away from the higher risk unit.
Regional markets were also nervous asNorth Koreaprepared to fire a long-range rocket which it says will place a satellite in orbit for peaceful research purposes.
Western critics see the launch as a thinly veiled ballistic missile test, and the United Nations has banned such tests byPyongyang.
Dealers are on edge as they await the launch, whichNorth Koreahas slotted take place between April 12 and 16 to commemorate the centenary of the birth of its founding leader Kim Il-Sung.
"Geopolitical risk could ripple through the markets quite a bit. Some are taking a wait-and-see mode," Yoshihiro Okumura, general manager of research at Chibagin Asset Management inTokyo, told Dow Jones Newswires.
On oil markets New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in May was down 14 cents at $102.56 per barrel while Brent North Sea crude for May shed 19 cents to $119.99.
Gold was at $1,658.75 an ounce at 0300 GMT, compared with $1,654.75 late Wednesday.
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