HONG KONG - Asian stock markets edged higher Wednesday, taking a cautious attitude to Europe’s debt crisis but with higher commodity prices supporting resource stocks. Japan’s Nikkei index closed up just 0.02 percent, or 2.12 points, at 10,512.80, while Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.29 percent, or 13.5 points, to reach 4,724.2, with firm commodity prices offsetting the effects of Australia’s flood crisis. Hong Kong was up 0.94 percent in the afternoon, while Shanghai’s Composite index gained 0.16 percent. Stocks were generally boosted by gains on Wall Street and Japan’s announcement that it will buy bonds from a eurozone rescue fund to help finance Ireland’s bailout and support the debt-hit bloc. Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Tuesday the government would use euro-denominated foreign exchange reserves to buy around 20 percent of a eurozone bond offering this month. But sentiment remained cautious ahead of Portugal’s 2011 debut on the long-term bond market on Wednesday, amid speculation that aggressive intervention by the European Central Bank may help it avoid a bailout. “Tensions concerning European conditions will continue through the week,” Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities in Tokyo, told Dow Jones Newswires. The yen’s recent weakness against the euro gave stocks in Japanese exporters an early boost but this was offset later in the session as the yen again pushed higher. Banking stocks made notable gains in Hong Kong, echoing advances in London, with HSBC up 2.4 percent. In Shanghai, resource stocks climbed as a weaker dollar helped push up commodity prices. Taipei rose 0.38 percent, or 33.64 points, to 8,965.00, as Ruentex Industries gained 4.81 percent on advance reports, confirmed after the close, that troubled US insurer AIG will sell its Taiwanese unit to a Ruentex-led consortium for $2.16 billion. US stocks posted moderate gains Tuesday, buoyed by a positive start to the quarterly earnings season as aluminium giant Alcoa posted strong figures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.30 percent, the broader S&P 500 rose 0.37 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq climbed 0.33 percent. The euro edged up against the dollar in Asia ahead of Portugal’s bond issue. The European single currency fetched $1.2987 in Tokyo afternoon trade, up from $1.2974 in New York late Tuesday. The euro edged down to 107.93 yen from 108.00 yen. The dollar fell slightly to 83.11 yen from 83.23 yen. Oil prices were mixed, with the shutting down of two North Sea oil fields compounding supply cuts from the closure of an Alaskan pipeline, analysts said. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, rose 21 cents to $91.32 a barrel in the afternoon. Brent North Sea crude for February dipped two cents to $97.59. Gold opened at $1,384.00-$1,385.00 an ounce in Hong Kong, up from Tuesday’s close of $1,376.50-$1,377.50. In other markets: — Seoul rose 0.32 percent, or 6.63 points, to 2,094.95, supported by gains in construction and shipbuilding stocks. — Manila rose 0.12 percent, or 4.86 points, to 4,037.23. Manila Electric Co. added 11.5 percent to reach 290 pesos. San Miguel Corp. rose 6.0 percent to 180.20 pesos. — Wellington rose 0.15 percent, or 5.14 points, to 3,334.90. Air New Zealand rose 0.7 percent to NZ$1.52, Contact Energy was up 0.2 percent at 6.24 and Fletcher Building gained 0.5 percent to reach 7.87.

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