ASIA MARKETS: Japan, Australia Stocks Rise; Korea Slips

By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japanese and Australian stocks rose Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said no time has been set for slowing the pace of the central bank's bond purchases, with banks among the gainers in Asia.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average added 0.6%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.1%, but South Korea's Kospi retreated 0.8% after a solid advance in the previous session.

U.S. stocks ticked higher Wednesday after the Fed chairman said the central bank's monthly bond purchases weren't on a "pre-set course" and could be curbed or extended, depending on economic conditions.

"Fed Chairman Bernanke didn't delivery anything new in his testimony yesterday but still managed to provide further reassurance to markets. ... The positive tone will likely creep into Asian trading today in the absence of other key market drivers," said Crédit Agricole head of Asia global markets research Mitul Kotecha.

In addition to Bernanke's testimony to Congress, better-than-expected results from Bank of America Corp. (BAC) also helped banking shares advance on Wall Street.

In Asia, several major financial stocks saw solid gains, with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (SMFJY) rising 2% and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (MTU) adding 1.2% in Tokyo, while National Australia Bank Ltd. (NABZY) added 0.5% in Sydney.

Shares of Softbank Corp. (9984.TO) jumped 5.7% on news the Japanese telecommunications firm will form a 50-50 joint venture with Bloom Energy to deploy the U.S.-based firm's energy servers.

Toshiba Corp. (TOSYY) jumped 3.1% after the Nikkei newspaper reported the company planned to invest in capacity expansion for smartphone chips for the first time in about two years.

In Australia, surfwear maker Billibong International Ltd. (BLLAY) climbed a further 6% on top of Wednesday's 34% surge, following news it has secured a private-equity loan and that it was replacing the company's chief executive.

A rise in U.S. crude-oil prices Wednesday helped lift energy producers, with Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. gaining 1.9% in Tokyo, and Santos Ltd. rising 1% in Sydney.

But Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WOPEF) fell 0.9% after saying it would take impairment charges of up to $140 million on unused design work for projects that never took off.

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