SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Asian stock markets ended mostly higher Wednesday, with Tokyo stocks surging to a one-month high after Japan conducted its first foreign exchange intervention in six and a half years to weaken the yen. Local traders estimated that authorities' yen sales were worth around Y200 billion to Y300 billion in the early minutes of intervention, while sources pegged the end of day figure at around Y1 trillion. The intervention was the first by Tokyo authorities since 2004. That sent the dollar surging above the Y85.00 level, compared with an earlier low of Y82.87. The euro tagged along and rose above Y110.00 from Y107.74 earlier in the day. "What they did today was draw a line in the sand and say: 'Defend it from here.' That makes it for speculators a lot less interesting," said Andreas Schuster, CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets head of research for Japanese equities, referring to the recent trend that had rewarded investors who piled into the yen expecting further gains. Japanese authorities will likely be successful in the their efforts to halt further long-term appreciation of the yen, he said. Sentiment could even turn yen-bearish when the market begins to focus on the nation's fiscal problems and its rising national debt service payments, Schuster added. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended 2.3% higher at 9,516.56, the highest closing level since August 10. Exporters were among the biggest gainers, although gains were broad-based, with 31 of 33 subindexes closing in positive territory. Toyota Motor was up 3.8%, Honda Motor gained 4.0% and Sony was up 4.1%. But despite the intervention's apparent success in providing a shot in the arm for the stock market, analysts were not confident the gains would last. "Intervention is like putting a Band-Aid on a person, in this case a country, bleeding from deflation...this (intervention) is not a fundamental solution," said Okasan Securities strategist Hideyuki Ishiguro. Analysts said the move was timed to surprise investors who had wagered on the yen to rise and stocks to fall after Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Tuesday beat back political heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa's challenge for the leadership of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan. That scenario had been playing out prior to the intervention Wednesday, as Mr. Ozawa had publicly pledged market intervention to weaken the yen if he was chosen for the top job, while Mr. Kan was seen as less likely to make such a move. Other markets ended mostly higher, shaking off an initial mixed reaction as the effects of Japan's move were digested across the region. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.8%, South Korea's Kospi Composite added 0.5% and the Shanghai Composite Index was off 1.3%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index nudged up 0.1% and India's Sensex was up 0.8%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 15 points in screen trade. Australian stocks benefited from renewed appetite for risk assets in the wake of the Japanese move. Major banks supported the market with gains of 0.3%-2.9%. National Australia Bank was up 2.9% on resumption of trade after it dropped its bid for AXA Asia Pacific. Gold mining stocks were higher in several markets with Newcrest Mining up 1.3%, helped by a record high for the metal. Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining rose 1.4%. In Hong Kong, Zijin Mining was up 1.4%. Spot gold hit a record around $1,275 a troy ounce Tuesday and was recently up $1.0 from late New York levels at $1,269.70. Shares in Korea recovered from earlier losses as investors weighed concerns about weaker price competitiveness versus Japanese products in overseas markets. "A weak yen is putting a pressure on information-technology-parts shares such as Samsung SDI and Cheil Industries, while Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors won't rise further," said Kim Jung-hoon at Korea Investment & Securities. Samsung SDI was down 6.1%. China property developers and banks were extending their losses. "The uncertainty over whether Beijing will launch further tightening measures for the property market continues to weigh on developers and banks," said Deng Wenyuan at Soochow Securities. China Vanke was down 1.7%, Industrial Bank slid 2.6%, and Citic Bank fell 2.4%. He added that the market was especially cautious ahead of next week's three-day mid-autumn festival holiday, as China has in the past chosen holiday periods to launch new policies. Elsewhere in the region, Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.4%, Singapore's Straits Times Index was up 0.7%, and Malaysia's KLCI was off 0.1%. Philippine shares rose 0.1%, shares in Thailand were flat, while Indonesian stocks gained 3.9% and New Zealand's NZX-50 slipped 0.1%. Foreign exchange markets started the day in quiet trade but were shaken up by Japan's intervention. The dollar was last at Y85.17, from Y83.08 in New York, while the euro was at Y110.44 from Y108.20. The yen may remain strong in the weeks ahead despite the intervention, particularly if the U.S. Federal Reserve moves toward further easing and Treasury yields fall, said Hideki Amikura, deputy general manager at Nomura Trust and Banking. He said while the dollar could rise to around Y85.00, substantial selling by Japanese exporters there would likely weigh on the dollar. But the intervention was at least likely to have put a floor under the dollar at Y83.00; "that could become support for now, since the intervention was conducted after the breach of that level," he added. The dollar inched higher against the Chinese yuan despite yet another record-low fixing by the People's Bank of China, rising to CNY6.7358 after the moves in Japan, well above its intraday low of CNY6.7300. October Nymex crude oil futures were down 94 cents at $75.86 per barrel on Globex. -Dow Jones Newswires; +65-6415-4140; markettalk@dowjones.com

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