Asia market-stocks, dollar fall on US recovery fears
( 2003-08-04 13:27) (Agencies)
Asian stocks fell and the US dollar softened on Monday on fears the world's largest economy and Asia's major export market may be stalling after surprisingly weak US economic data.
Japan's key stock index fell almost one percent, with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co and other exporters falling after disappointing US jobs and manufacturing data sent Wall Street lower on Friday.
But the Nikkei average clawed back some ground from earlier lows to stay above the 9,500 line, as investors continued to move money from high-techs to firms such as real estate developers, which lagged the market's recent rise. The Nikkei was down 0.82 percent at 9,533.14 at 0338 GMT. The broader TOPIX index was down 0.25 percent at 940.08.
"Friday's figures weren't very good, but the overall trend is still for a recovery, so the effect on Tokyo should be over today or tomorrow," said Yoshihisa Okamoto, senior vice president at Fuji Investment Management.
"But part of the economic recovery is already factored into current share prices, and we might need to see the Dow rise to around 9,500 to get the Nikkei back to the 10,000 level."
The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 0.86 percent at 9,153.97 on Friday.
A 1.12 percent fall in the Nasdaq Composite Index after the disappointing US data put fresh pressure on tech shares such as Sony Corp and Matsushita.
Sony, the world's largest consumer-electronics maker, was down 2.9 percent at 3,640 yen, while chief rival Matsushita fell 3.51 percent to 1,400 yen.
Japanese government bond prices advanced with support from the weak Nikkei, but activity was cautious ahead of a closely watched auction of 10-year debt. The yield on the 251st 10-year JGB fell one basis point to 0.950 percent.
South Korean stocks fell, led by shares in Hyundai Group companies on news that a top executive had committed suicide, but selected technology shares rose on an upbeat business outlook.
Chung Mong-hun, 55, was a son of the late Chung Ju-yung, founder of the Hyundai Group, which was once South Korea's biggest conglomerate. The chairman of the unlisted Hyundai Asan Co had been on trial for his role in a scandal in which prosecutors said South Korea paid hundreds of millions of dollars to North Korea before a historic summit meeting in 2000.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was down 1.15 percent at 718.92 after hitting an eight-month high on Friday.
Taiwan stocks fell 0.30 percent to 5,374.12 after Wall Street's losses, but memory microchip shares such as Powerchip tracked their US peers higher to offset some of the losses. Powerchip rose 3.9 percent to T$18.70.
Singapore fell 0.9 percent to 1,543.01 while the Australian market dipped 0.5 percent to 3,126.0.
The dollar slipped further from recent highs after the weak economic data. The US Labor Department surprised markets on Friday with news that non-farm payrolls had shed 44,000 jobs in July. A gain of 18,000 jobs had been expected.
As of 0345 GMT, the dollar was down about a quarter of a percent at 119.87/90 yen, compared with 120.10 yen in late US trade last week.
The euro was little changed at $1.1273/76, compared with around $1.1280. But it kept a comfortable distance from a two-week low of $1.1135 hit on Friday before the US jobs report.
The dollar got little help from Friday's US manufacturing report, which matched market expectations.
US crude futures crept lower in Asian trade, following sharp gains on Friday when a pipeline blaze in Iraq highlighted concern over the country's recovery. Front-month September was down 24 cents at $32.07 a barrel.
Gold rose more than $2 an ounce to 350.00/50, thanks largely to the softer dollar and bargain hunting after bullion's pre-weekend fall to two-week lows.
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