Asian markets rally after Wall St lead, euro struggles

Asian markets mostly rose on Tuesday as traders took heart from a healthy run on Wall Street, though German uncertainty kept pressure on the euro.

While concerns about the prospects for US tax reform continue to nag, optimism about the global economy provided some buoyancy to equities, with all three main New York indexes closing higher.

However, with the Thanksgiving holiday shortening the US trading week analysts do not expect much more guidance from New York in the next few days.

Still, Tokyo jumped 0.7 percent, led by exporters as the dollar held on to most of its gains against the yen.

The greenback was marginally down from its New York mark, at 112.60 yen, but sharply higher than the levels around 112 yen seen earlier Monday in Asia.

Among other markets Hong Kong pushed 1.3 percent higher in the afternoon, with Tencent up more than one percent, extending Monday's surge that put it in the exclusive club of global firms with a market capitalisation of more than $500 billion. The Chinese internet giant hit $531 billion, more than Facebook's $519 billion.

Shanghai gained 0.5 percent and Sydney was up 0.3 percent. Seoul rose 0.1 percent and Taipei put on 1.1 percent but Manila, Jakarta and Wellington dipped.

There was little negative reaction to news that Donald Trump had redesignated North Korea as a state sponsor of terror, promising Monday to increase sanctions on it.

On currency markets the euro edged down slightly as German Chancellor Angela Merkel struggled to form a government after months of horse-trading with other parties failed.

The leader of 12 years indicated Monday she was ready to hold snap elections after the collapse of coalition talks at the weekend plunged Europe's biggest economy into turmoil.

"Merkel said she didn't favour a minority government because it wouldn't bring the stability necessary to govern effectively," said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader.

"That suggests more talks but an increased chance of fresh elections in early 2018. How that plays out is going to be interesting for the euro and certainly the Brexit process as well."

The single currency was slightly down against the dollar, while some market-watchers have warned it could sink as low as $1.1160, despite an expected tightening of monetary policy by the European Central Bank.

Despite the troubles, Frankfurt's DAX index ended 0.5 percent up.

 - Key figures around 0710 GMT - 

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: 0.7 percent at 22,416.48 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 1.3 percent at 29,630.74

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,410.50 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1730 from $1.1733 at 2140 GMT

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3250 from $1.3235 

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 112.60 yen from 112.64 yen

Oil - West Texas Intermediate (new contract): UP three cents at $56.45 per barrel 

Oil - Brent North Sea: UP eight cents at $62.30

New York - DOW: UP 0.3 percent at 23,430.33 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 7,389.46 (close)