(Repeating to additional subscribers with no changes to text)
* Korea, Taiwan gain, IT sector outpaces others
* Japan, Australia fall as euro debt woes, Wall St weigh
* Euro firms as markets pause for EU economic summit
By Charlotte Cooper
TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Asian shares broadly rose on
Tuesday, led by Taiwan and South Korea, and the euro staged a
small rebound from its recent drubbing, but Japan and Australia
fell as investor sentiment remained weak on euro zone fiscal
concerns.
Share markets in Britain <.FTSE>, France <.FCHI> and
Germany <.GDAXI> were forecast to open as much as 1 percent
down, tracking losses on Wall Street on Monday, where the Dow
Jones industrial average <.DJI> ended below 10,000 points.
"There's a lot of concerns out there -- the euro zone
issues, the chance of limits on U.S. bank risk taking, and
worries about Chinese credit tightening," said Norihiro Fujito,
general manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
The MSCI index of Asian shares outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose 0.4 percent, with IT stocks leading, after
an early dip to a five-month low, while shares in Hong Kong
held slender gains and Shanghai <.SSEC> stocks slipped in and
out of the red.
Analysts said confidence was still flimsy with worries
about fiscal problems in Greece, Spain and Portugal likely to
limit the scope of any rebounds, and financial shares trailed
other sectors after banks led financials lower on Wall Street.
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet was
leaving a central bankers' meeting in Sydney early to attend a
European Union summit on the economy [ID:nSGE61801C]
Shares in Seoul rose 1.1 percent <.KS11>, with the KOSPI
bouncing from a two-month low to above 1,550 points helped by
gains in tech shares such as Samsung Electronics <005930.KS>.
Shanghai stocks <.SSEC> closed nearly half a percent higher
with financial shares mostly firmer although a new listing by
China First Heavy Industries <601106.SS> continued a string of
disappointing market debuts while turnover shrank to an
11-month low.
Taiwan stocks closed 2 percent up <.TWII>, their biggest
jump since September, with government funds said to have bought
shares, and strong export data boosting tech exporters such as
TSMC <TSM.N>, the world's largest contract chipmaker.
[ID:nTOE61803Y]
But it was a different story in Japan, where the Nikkei
<.N225> slid 0.2 percent to a two-month closing low, after
breaking down through 10,000 points on Monday, as euro zone
sovereign debt woes gnawed at investor confidence.
Beaten-down Toyota Motor <7203.T> shares climbed on
short-covering as it said it would recall nearly half a million
of its flagship Prius and other hybrid cars for braking
problems, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group <8316.T> rose
after posting its biggest profit in seven quarters. [.T]
[ID:nSGE61800X]
Hong Kong's Hang Seng <.HSI> edged up 0.4 percent, although
it is still 2 percent down this month.
Australian stocks also trailed, shedding 0.4 percent
<.AXJO>, after a lukewarm trading update from top investment
bank Macquarie Group <MQG.AX>. [ID:nSGE6170NU]
Macquarie slid 6 percent after its second-half profit
forecast fell short of market estimates and it warned equity
capital markets and credit business were not as strong as they
were in the first half.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI>
fell 1 percent and ended below 10,000 for the first time since
November. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> shed 0.9
percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dropped 0.7
percent.
In the currency markets, the euro rose 0.4 percent,
although it was still within sight of last week's 8-½ month
low of $1.3585 <EUR=>, as traders speculated a rescue for
Greece would be organised soon, prompting some covering of
short positions.
Greek civil servants were threatening to stage strikes in
protest at government austerity measures, highlighting the
challenges faced by governments in Athens, Lisbon and Madrid to
push through budget cuts and restore confidence in their
economies. [ID:nLDE6171EU]
Gold prices steadied above $1,060 per ounce <XAU=> while
oil sank below $72 a barrel, after rising nearly 1 percent the
day before, weighed down by an uncertain demand outlook.
Ten-year U.S. Treasury notes dipped as investors braced for
the start of this week's $81 billion quarterly refunding.
Benchmark 10-year notes rose about 1 basis point to yield 3.577
percent <US10YT=RR>.
(Editing by Jan Dahinten)