Asian shares defied another US slump to move higher as investors expressed the hope Wall Street has hit bottom after its steepest dive in almost 30 years.
The beleaguered dollar also managed to shrug off the gloom and strengthen back beyond parity with the euro for the first time in a week. But traders said this was only because US funds were raising money to repay investors cashing out of equities.
Tokyo's Nikkei average closed a quarter of a per cent higher, and the Hong Kong and Singapore markets were up more than 1 per cent in afternoon trade. Taiwan rose 2 per cent and South Korea soared 3 per cent.
But European stocks, which plummeted 5 per cent yesterday, were expected to open just flat or slightly lower.
Financial bookmakers in London predicted the blue-chip FTSE 100 benchmark would open down 10 points, a day after it dived 200 points to a six-year low.
Many analysts characterised the Asian gains as just a technical rebound, but some investors said the US rout may have run its course.
US stocks dived yesterday on deepening gloom over corporate accounting and profits, with the Dow Jones industrial average sinking 234.68 points, or 2.9 per cent, to 7,784.58, its first close under 8,000 since mid-October 1998.