Asian stocks up, euro steady on Europe bank moves

SINGAPORE: Asian stocks rose on Friday and the euro clung to gains from a 2-cent rally after euro zone policymakers moved to shore up struggling banks and fend off a new financial crisis.

Global stocks rose for a third straight day on Thursday and commodities soared after the European Central Bank announced aggressive liquidity measures and the European Union said it would present a plan for a coordinated recapitalisation of banks by member states.

Fears that Europe's two-year-old sovereign debt crisis is heading inexorably towards a default by Greece -- and possibly others -- that could trigger turmoil in the banking system have caused a sharp sell-off in riskier assets since late July.

Tokyo's Nikkei share average rose 0.9 percent on Friday, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.2 percent, led by a 2.4 percent gain from the materials sector .

U.S. stocks rose more that 1.5 percent on Thursday.

The European Central Bank said on Thursday it was ready to buy bonds to provide longer-term cheap money for European lenders in need of funding.

The euro, which has fallen back from a 2011 peak near $1.50 in May, was steady around $1.3425 , after jumping from a low of $1.3240 on Thursday.

While some investors were disappointed the ECB did not also cut interest rates, riskier assets such as equities, commodities and currencies linked to commodity markets, like the Australian dollar, rallied.

Copper rose around 0.6 percent on Friday, extending a gain of nearly 6 percent in the previous session, but oil eased a little after a 3 percent bounce on Thursday.

Brent crude slipped 0.2 percent to $105.55 a barrel and U.S. crude eased 0.3 percent to $82.35. – Reuters