Asia stocks alloyed as abstracts on US economSEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Asian banal markets were alloyed Monday afterwards a abatement on Wall Street and as investors hunkered bottomward advanced of a beck of abstracts that could affirm the U.S. abridgement is convalescent at a slower pace. European shares were higher. Trading in Asia was chastened with banking markets in Japan bankrupt for a civic holiday. Oil hovered aloft $78 a butt while the dollar rose hardly adjoin the yen and fell against the euro.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 315.55, or 1.4 percent, to 22,771.39 while South Korea's Kospi fell 1.55, or 0.1 percent, to 1,619.05.
Elsewhere, Australia's index gained 0.7 percent and China's Shanghai benchmark rose 0.9 percent. Markets were lower in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, New Zealand and the Philippines.
As trading got underway in Europe, France's CAC-40 was up 1.2 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.4 percent and Germany's DAX advanced 1.3 percent. Stock futures pointed to gains Monday on Wall Street. Dow futures were up 75, or 0.7 percent, at 10,378.
Investors in Asia were cautious because of an upcoming slew of figures on the world's largest economy including revised GDP growth for the third quarter. Many analysts expect the initial estimate of a 3.5 percent annual growth rate to be lowered.
Also due this week are reports on home sales, unemployment, consumer confidence and demand for big-ticket manufactured goods.
"Everybody is watching to see if the U.S. consumer will go out and spend," said Jackson Wong, vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong.
There's also a focus on the U.S. dollar, he said, after it regained strength amid safe haven buying sparked by Dell's gloomy business outlook and European Central Bank plans to start reining in stimulus programs.
Investors tend to seek refuge in the U.S. currency and gold when they perceive other assets such as emerging market stocks and commodities have become too risky.
Stocks, particularly in Asia, have risen dramatically from their lows in March but there are nagging doubts the global economic recovery isn't keeping up with the markets.
On Friday in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 14.28, or 0.1 percent, to 10,318.16, skidding for the third straight session. For the week, the Dow fell 119 points, or 1.1 percent.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.52, or 0.3 percent, to 1,091.38, while the Nasdaq composite index, dominated by tech stocks like Dell Inc., fell 10.78, or 0.5 percent, to 2,146.04.
Investors sold U.S. stocks after Dell said net income dropped 54 percent in the third quarter and warned it faced an uneven recovery.
Oil prices rose amid Iran's five days of war games. Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 91 cents at $78.38 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 58 cents to settle at $77.47 on Friday.
In currencies, the dollar rose to 88.85 yen from 88.79 yen. The euro rose to $1.4973 from $1.4859.
