RPT-GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares gain, Tokyo leaps on govt rescue
(Repeats to additional subscribers)
* Asian stocks gain, Nikkei up 4.9 pct on govt bail-out plan
* Yen extends losses as Japan announces fresh company aid
* Oil gains past $46 a barrel
* Gold pauses above $900 an ounce (Updates market prices, expected start in Europe)
TOKYO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Japanese shares led Asian markets higher, climbing 4.9 percent after Tokyo launched a $16.7 billion scheme on Tuesday to help firms threatened by the financial crisis.
In Europe, shares were expected to open down with the focus on earnings and a German business sentiment indicator, with Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE seen falling 21 to 32 points and Germany's DAX .GDAXI expected down 6 to 31 points.
Japan's funding plan helped the Nikkei average .N225 to its biggest one-day gain in percentage terms since mid-December, along with a fall in the yen and a 9-percent surge in shares of Honda Motor Co (7267.T). The carmaker announced further production cuts in North America in Japan, but a newspaper reported it would boost capacity in China. [ID:nT71705]
Japan's trade ministry said capital would be provided only while companies faced difficulty in fund-raising due to market turmoil, and firms receiving the funds would be required to draw up plans to boost profitability within three years. [ID:nT115225]
"This news will be positive, since it's directed at firms in general and raises hopes that this will help with fund-raising, but the yen's fall has helped too," said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Shinko Securities.
"We'll have good news and bad news, just one mountain after another, before the downside really solidifies."
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 1.36 percent, after a 0.48 percent gain in the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI and a 0.56 percent rise in the Standard & Poor's 500 index .SPX on Monday.
Many Asian markets were closed for Lunar New Year, but Australian shares .AXJO closed up 3 percent after a one-day holiday, helped by miners such as Rio Tinto (RIO.AX), which were buoyed by a rebound in metal prices.
YEN STEPS BACK
News of the funding plan helped push the yen down against the dollar and deepen its losses against the euro and sterling as shares gained and investor risk tolerance appeared to pick up. Continued...
