Asian shares edge up as resource stocks bounce back

Asian shares edged up on Monday, finding some support after losing ground last week on fears of the impact of an economic slowdown in China, and the euro held near a three-week high.

Commodity-linked currencies such as the Australian dollar steadied after a hammering last week on concerns of easing demand for resources, but commodities themselves were mixed, with copper inching up while oil lost a little ground.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan and Tokyo's Nikkei share average both rose 0.3%. The MSCI Asia ex-Japan fell 1.6% last week, while the Nikkei shed 1.2%.

Equity markets had got off to a flying start in 2012, but have been wobbling since China lowered its growth forecast for the year to 7.5% in mid-March, with concerns exacerbated by weak factory data from China and Europe last week.

Wall Street shares edged up on Friday, however, led by a rebound in resource shares after Chile's Codelco, the world's top copper producer, reported a surge in profits and an increase in production.

"There may be some buying back of resource shares after they performed well in New York," said Hiroichi Nishi, equity general manager at SMBC Nikko Securities in Tokyo.

The Australian dollar climbed back towards $1.05, after falling below $1.04 last week on concerns of slowing demand for Australia's resources from China, Australia's single biggest export market.

The euro stood at $1.3275, not far from Friday's three-week high of $1.3293, although some market players said it could come under pressure later ahead of bond auctions in Spain and Italy.

Italy is looking to raise up to 7.5 billion euros in debt markets amid renewed pressure on peripheral euro zone debt sparked by fears of fiscal slippage.

"Any sign of erosion in restored confidence for these bonds is likely to weigh on the euro," Barclays Capital analysts wrote in a client note.

In commodity markets, copper rose 0.4% to around $8,410 a tonne, while Brent crude oil slipped 0.1% to $125 a barrel and US crude lost 0.2% to $106.70.