World stocks hit 15-month peak

China8217;s exports and imports last month blew past expectations,with exports surging 17.7 per cent from a year earlier to break 13 months of declines. The trade data,released on Sunday,triggered a shift into Asian assets as investors shrugged off Friday8217;s disappointing US non-farm payrolls data.

Gold pushed up to a five-week high at 1,157.65 an ounce at one point as the data showed a sharp rise in China8217;s commodities imports and sent the Australian dollar to a 26-month peak against the euro.

Chia-Liang Lian,a senior vice president at bond fund PIMCO,said Asia8217;s fundamentals made it highly attractive.

8220;We have seen how Asia has navigated successfully through a tough year with a score card that is nothing short of spectacular,8221; Lian said in an interview.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan hit its highest level since July 2008,gaining 1.2 per cent. The Thomson Reuters index of Asian shares was 0.8 per cent higher.

Japanese financial markets were closed for a public holiday.

Australia8217;s leading share index climbed 0.8 per cent to a 15-month high as the China data lifted resource companies that benefit from Chinese demand.

8220;People are gradually getting more comfortable with the recovery story. You have seen some reasonably good data out of China,and there have been no disasters,no more Dubais,8221; said Greg Goodsell,equity strategist at RBS Australia.

The Australian dollar soared to its highest in more than two years against the euro and to a five-week high against the dollar.

Resource-related shares gained in Hong Kong,including Aluminum Corp of China Chalco,the country8217;s top aluminum company,which surged 5 per cent,and Jiangxi Copper,China8217;s top metals producer,which rose more than 3 per cent.

Chinese brokerage shares gained in Shanghai after news late last week that Beijing had decided to allow stock index futures and margin trading.

The dollar,however,extended losses stemming from the jobs report,which dampened expectations of an early rise in US interest rates.

A member of the US Federal Reserve monetary policy committee,James Bullard,said on Monday that rates may remain low for quite some time,reiterating the central bank8217;s long-standing position.

The dollar dropped 0.5 per cent against a basket of currencies and was quoted at a three-week low at around 1.4533 against the euro.

The US economy shed 85,000 jobs in December,confounding expectations that the job market was finally stabilising. Still,analysts argued the outcome was consistent with economic recovery because the pace of job losses had dropped sharply since the height of recession.

Oil jumped more than 1 per cent,topping 83 a barrel,on the back of the weak dollar,extremely cold weather in the northern hemisphere and a surge in China8217;s crude oil imports last month.

China8217;s export rebound fuelled expectations China could soon let the yuan start rising again and helped push Asian currencies higher as a stronger yuan would benefit pricing for fellow Asian exporters.

The high-yielding Indonesian rupiah jumped 1 per cent to 9,120 to the dollar,despite suspected intervention by the central bank. It has gained 3.3 per cent so far this year as investors have sought out higher-yielding assets.

South Korean authorities were also seen intervening to curb the won which touched a 15-month high of 1,117.5 to the dollar.

PIMCO8217;s Lian said Asian currencies were still undervalued on a trade-weighted basis and cited the yuan,the won and the Singapore dollar among his top currency picks. He also likes Indonesian debt which offers better yield than other Asian debt.