Business

Editor: Bruce Meng
24 Oct 2008 02:09:05 GMT

HONG KONG, Oct 24 – Asian shares are set to rise on Friday, with investors encouraged by Wall Street’s rebound.

U.S. stocks recovered from five-year lows in a volatile session, with shares swinging in a 7 percent range, led by energy stocks after oil prices rebounded. Earnings from top pharmaceutical companies also helped spur buying.

The U.S. dollar ended lower, after climbing earlier to a fresh two-year high against the euro and a basket of currencies, following aggressive dollar selling by Brazil’s central bank, which helped stabilize emerging market currencies.

The yen climbed versus the euro and other high-yielding currencies on rising risk aversion.

Oil prices gained on expectations OPEC would agree to cut output in an emergency meeting in Vienna, with Iran suggesting that it lower production by 2 million barrels a day.

HEADLINES: > Job cuts, auto woes deepen global recession fears [nN23482353] > Microsoft outlook better than feared

[nN23379645] > Wall St rebounds on energy, drug strength [nN23474918] > WaMu CDS sellers face 43 pct insurance payouts

[nN23444673] > Greenspan “shocked” at credit system breakdown [nN23440238] > Brazil fights crisis with new steps;currency jumps[nN23468162] > Dollar climbs two-year peaks but ends lower [nN23474666] > OPEC seeks to halt price slide, cushion economy [nLN358543] > U.S. weighing troubled mortgage loan guarantees [nN23445677] > New York Times posts loss, eyes debt [nN23398087] > Calif mortgage defaults drop as new law takes hold[nN23457710] > Oil rises as OPEC weighs supply cut [nSYD377354]

KEY INDEXES pct change

Bank of New York Asia ADR index <.BKAS> 0.23

Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> 2.02

Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> -0.73

MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan <.MSCIAPJ> -5.32

Nikkei futures in Chicago <2NKc1> 2.98

Nikkei futures in Osaka <JNIc1> -2.60

ASIAN ADR ACTION:

5 most actively traded: pct change

TSMC <TSM.N><2330.TW> 0.87

BHP Billiton <BHP.N><BHP.AX> -2.82

Infosys Tech <INFY.O><INFY.BO> 1.97

Siliconware <SPIL.O><2325.TW> -3.14

Mitsubishi UFJ <MTU.N><8306.T> 4.03

Top 5 performers: pct change

Mahanagar Tel <MTE.N><MTNL.BO> 8.97

Wacoal Corp. <WACLY.O><3591.T> 8.27

China Unicom <CHU.N><0762.HK> 7.98

Novogen <NVGN.O><NRT.AX> 7.50

NTT Docomo <DCM.N><9437.T> 6.60

Bottom 5 performers: pct change

Genetic Tech <GENE.O><GTG.AX> -34.07

Makita Corp. <MKTAY.O><6586.T> -12.11

Tata Motors <TTM.N><TAMO.BO> -9.94

Yanzhou Coal <YZC.N><1171.HK> -8.27

Sony Corp. <SNE.N><6758.T> -8.21

TOP ASIA EVENTS:

For more Asian company earnings, see [ASIA/EQTY]

HONG KONG – Aluminum Corp of China Ltd <2600.HK> to report

third-quarter results.

JAPAN – Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa and Economics

Minister Kaoru Yosano post-cabinet news

conference.

STH KOREA – Samsung Eletronics Ltd <005930.KS> to announce

third-quarter results.