Tokyo stocks hold firm amid eurozone jitters

Tokyo's Nikkei index ended the day up 1.06 per cent, or 102.70 points, at 9,827.51.

However Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 closed down 0.10 per cent, or 4.7 points, at 4,688.0 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended down 0.81 per cent, or 195.4 points, at 24,027.18.

Shanghai's Composite Index staged a slight comeback, ending up 0.97 per cent, after slumping a dramatic 5.16 per cent on Friday, its biggest one-day fall in 14 months.

Tokyo was boosted by data showing Japan's economy grew by 3.9 per cent in the July-September period from a year before, while the dollar's stronger performance against the yen gave the all-important export sector a lift.

Analysts cautioned that the impressive growth figure might be misleading as it was helped by the expiry of subsidies for "green" cars and anticipation of a tobacco tax hike.

However, exporter stocks such as Honda Motor and Sony were lifted by the dollar's renewed strength following this months' US stimulus measures.

The euro was range-bound after last week's volatility caused by fears that Ireland, facing a rocketing prices for its bond purchases, might need a bailout.

Those pressures eased after EU heavyweight nations said Friday that a planned bailout fund would not cause heavy losses to investors, but analysts warned of further trouble ahead.

"I'm fairly certain that once Ireland is out of the way the market will be flipping (attention) to Spain or Portugal next," HiFX senior trader Stuart Ive told Dow Jones Newswires.

Traders were looking ahead to a meeting of European finance ministers on Wednesday, as well as US retail sales figures later Monday.

The euro bought $1.3681 in Tokyo afternoon trade, from $1.3696 in New York late Friday. The single currency fell to a six-week low of 1.3606 last week.

The euro rose to 113.11 yen from 112.98 overnight. The dollar was quoted at 82.68 yen, slightly higher from 82.54 yen in New York.

The mood in Hong Kong and Shanghai was subdued after figures last week showed that mainland consumer prices had surged 4.4 per cent in October from a year earlier, overshooting government targets and raising expectations of a rate hike at the end of this month or in December.

In Sydney, BHP Billiton shares closed down 0.36 per cent after the company abandoned its effort to buy Canadian fertiliser-maker Potash Corp, while Qantas slipped 0.36 per cent after the latest in a string of technical problems for the airline forced a Buenos Aires-bound plane to turn back.

Wealth manager AMP rose 2.25 per cent after announcing a new bid of more than $13 billion for financial services group AXA Asia Pacific. AXA Asia Pacific jumped 6.75 per cent.

Oil rose as traders snapped up crude following a plunge in prices on Friday, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, gained five cents to $84.93  a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for December advanced a cent to $86.35 on its last trading day.

Gold closed at $1,365.00-1,366.00 an ounce in Hong Kong, down from Friday's finish of $1,380.00-1,381.00.

In other markets:

-- Seoul was flat, up just 0.69 points at 1,913.81.

-- Singapore fell 0.47 per cent, or 15.20 points, to 3,236.80.

Engineering and offshore services firm Keppel Corp rose 1.71 per cent to 10.70, while Fraser and Neave dipped 1.06 per cent to 6.51.

-- Kuala Lumpur rose 0.12 per cent, or 1.75 points, to 1,501.56.

Gaming group Genting gained 3.0 per cent to 10.46 ringgit, budget airline AirAsia rose 3.0 per cent to 2.40, while Pacific & Orient lost 11.30 pe rcent to 0.905.

-- Manila rose 1.54 per cent, or 62.64 points, to 4,139.32 after losses over the previous six sessions.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co added 0.2 per cent to reach 2,396 pesos. SM Investments rose 4.8 per cent to 545 pesos.

-- Wellington closed up 0.53 per cent, or 17.64 points, at 3,328.23, with bargain hunters snapped up heavyweight Telecom Corp. Telecom rose 1.8 per cent to 2.22 dollars ($1.71), Fisher & Paykel Healthcare closed up 0.7 per cent at 3.09 and Fletcher Building rose 0.4 per cent to 7.93.

-- Taipei fell 0.91 per cent, or 75.40 points, to 8,240.65.

Huang Hsiang Construction was down by the 7.0 per cent daily limit at 79.5 Taiwan dollars, while tech company Hon Hai Precision closed 1.32 per cent lower at 112.0.

-- Jakarta lost 0.26 per cent, or 9.38 points, to 3,656.46.

Bank Rakyat fell 2.1 per cent to 11,750 rupiah, Bank BCA slid 1.5 per cent to 6,800, while carmaker Astra decreased 1.0 per cent to 56,250.

Coal producer Bumi Resources rose 4.1 per cent to 2,550 rupiah.