Asian stocks mixed

A TV cameraman shoots an electronic stock indicator outside a securities firm in Tokyo Thursday, May 23, 2013. AP FILE PHOTO

HONG KONG – Asian stocks were mixed Monday with Tokyo down more than three percent on profit taking while comments by President Xi Jinping added to concerns about the slowing Chinese economy.

Tokyo shares fell 3.11 percent following a rollercoaster session last week that saw the Nikkei plunge more than seven percent on Thursday.

Hong Kong was up 0.22 percent by the break and Shanghai was flat after recovering from early falls in property stocks on fears the Chinese government may take more steps to rein in housing prices.

Seoul was 0.32 percent higher and Sydney was down 0.63 percent.

“Investors’ profit-taking movement is continuing as markets in New York and London are closed today, and they might want to watch the currency market,” Masahiro Yamaguchi, analyst at Mizuho Securities, told AFP in Tokyo.

Uncertainty over when the US Federal Reserve will taper off its asset purchases has also hit stocks after differing interpretations of comments by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke last week.

Asian markets got little direction from US stocks, which closed flat Friday in cautious trade ahead of the three-day US Memorial Day holiday weekend.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.06 percent at 15,303.10.

The broad-based S&P 500 was down 0.06 percent at 1,649.60 while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.01 percent to 3,459.14.

Japan’s Nikkei had been making steady gains until Thursday when the benchmark index plummeted 7.3 percent after disappointing data out of China stoked fears about the world’s second-largest economy, a major trade partner with Japan.

Comments Friday by Chinese President Xi that his country would not sacrifice the environment for temporary economic growth added to concerns about the weakness of China’s recovery following weak manufacturing data.

Figures from HSBC’s preliminary purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China released Thursday fell to a seven-month low of 49.6 in May, putting it below the 50 mark indicating contraction.

Xi’s comments on slower growth in the world’s top energy consumer also hit oil prices in Asian trade Monday.

New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude for delivery in July, dropped 64 cents to $93.51 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for July delivery shed 41 cents to $102.23.

“The crude market has reacted negatively to comments from the Chinese government that it will tolerate a slower rate of economic growth,” Victor Shum, managing director at IHS Purvin and Gertz in Singapore, told AFP.

“The comments by Xi further deepened concerns about the Chinese economy after the poor manufacturing data last week,” Shum added.

On forex markets, the yen added to its gains in Asia Monday but dealers said the Japanese unit’s decline was still on track.

The dollar fetched 101.01 yen in Tokyo trade, down from 101.14 yen in New York Friday and 102.33 yen in Tokyo on Friday morning.

The euro also weakened against the Japanese currency at 130.57 yen from 130.82 yen on Friday, while it bought $1.2926 from $1.2936

Gold was at $1,392.60 at 0420 GMT Monday from $1,386.10 late Friday.