Asian stock markets were mostly higher on Monday amid hopes that a
summit of European leaders later this week will yield a breakthrough for fixing the continent's
sovereign debt crisis.
Benchmark oil rose above $101 per barrel while the dollar rose against the euro but slipped against the yen.
Obama vows to help EU come out of crisis Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 0.4 per cent to 8,680.78 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.2 per cent to 19,075.99. South Korea's Kospi fell marginally to 1,915.96. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9 per cent to 4,326.20.
Solving euro crisis to 'take years', says Angela Merkel Benchmarks in mainland China, Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan fell.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet in Paris on Monday to prepare for a critical summit on December 9 of European Union leaders who are expected to agree on a major plan to
tackle the region's debt crisis.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EUROPE'S DEBT CRISIS Observers expect to see a proposal for tighter integration of the 17 countries that use the euro, especially on budget matters, as well as new punitive measures against countries that fail to adhere to tough budgetary rules.
Successful enactment of a rescue plan could lead to further emergency aid from the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund or some combination.
Austerity and growth measures approved over the weekend in Italy also helped boost confidence that some of Europe's more profligate members were finally getting serious about managing their huge piles of debt before their governments go belly up.
The package of measures imposes new taxes on the private wealth of Italians and raises the retirement age, as well as the number of years of service needed to qualify for a full pension. The package also includes measures to spur growth and competition.
Italy has been under extreme pressure to take urgent action to avoid defaulting on its massive euro 1.9 trillion ($2.57 trillion) debt - 120 per cent of its GDP. Recently
spiking borrowing costs have raised the specter of default.
Unlike Greece, Portugal and Ireland, which got international emergency bailouts after their borrowing rates skyrocketed, Europe's third-largest economy is considered too big to bail out.
United Nations warns of economic meltdown In energy trading, benchmark crude for January delivery was up 49 cents to $101.45 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 76 cents to settle at $100.96 on Friday.
The euro fell to $1.3394 from $1.3406 late on Friday in New York. The dollar fell to 77.97 yen from 78.03 yen.
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