Asian shares fall, Europe woes cap bargain buying

HONG KONG—Asian shares mostly fell Monday as bargain hunting was weighed by uncertainty over European debt, while key upcoming data and holidays in two of the world’s major markets combined to dampen enthusiasm.

Tokyo fell 0.18 percent, or 16.97 points, to 9,504.97, Seoul was off 0.31 percent, or 6.45 points, at 2,093.79 and Sydney lost 0.35 percent, or 16.5 points, to 4,667.5.

Shanghai ended 0.13 percent, or 3.59 points, lower at 2,706.36, an eighth straight session in the red amid ongoing fears the world’s No. 2 economy could be slowing down.

But Hong Kong rose 0.29 percent, or 66.25 points, higher at 23,184.32.

In Tokyo dealers had been expecting a day of thin trade because of a lack of fresh buying incentives and holidays in London and New York.

Investors were also awaiting a string of key Japanese and US data due later this week including domestic industrial output figures and a US jobs report, brokers said.

“There continues to be a lack of buying incentives at home while concerns about a slowdown in the global economy and European debt problems still weigh on the market,” said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager at SMBC Nikko Securities.

US stocks closed higher Friday helped by strong gains in banking and finance shares amid light trade before the long Memorial Day holiday weekend.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 38.82 points (0.31 percent) at 12,441.58.

“Markets will likely remain nervous in this environment and it is difficult to see risk appetite improving to any major degree,” Credit Agricole said in a note to clients.

On the forex markets, unimpressive US economic data on Friday, including weak pending homes sales, kept the dollar down, but the ongoing travails of the Greek government were ensuring the euro could not run away with things.

Underscoring the severity of the problems facing Greece, the European Union’s economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn was Sunday quoted as saying the EU will follow the IMF in blocking the June transfer of more Greek aid unless Athens does more to fix its public finances.

“We Europeans are setting the same conditions as the International Monetary Fund,” Germany’s Spiegel weekly quoted Rehn as saying. “The situation is very serious.”

He said the European Union would decide after examining the latest quarterly audit of Greek public finances by experts from the European Central Bank, the EU and IMF – which Spiegel said would include some “alarming” findings.

The audit will say that Athens is missing all budget promises made last year in return for an EU-IMF 110-billion-euro ($156-billion) rescue, Spiegel reported, without saying where it obtained the information.

Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou told local television the report was “completely unrelated with reality,” Dow Jones Newswires reported, citing a transcript provided by his ministry.

The euro fetched $1.4268 in Tokyo, down from $1.4317 in New York late Friday. The single European currency fell to 115.26 yen from 115.61 yen. The dollar edged down to 80.75 from 80.77 yen.

The greenback also fell to a record low against the New Zealand dollar. The kiwi surged to 82.16 US cents on the back of stronger-than-expected trade data, its highest since floating in 1985.

The unit passed its previous record of 82.15 US cents, set in March 2008, after New Zealand posted its largest ever monthly trade surplus in April of NZ$1.1 billion ($900 million) – almost double market expectations – amid strong global demand for agricultural commodities.

Oil was lower amid debt contagion fears. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, lost 26 cents to $100.33 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for July delivery was down 42 cents at $114.61 in the afternoon.

“If the EU has trouble, it will have a drag on economic growth globally,” Jason Feer, a Singapore-based analyst at Argus Media, told AFP.

Gold closed at $1,535-$1,536 per ounce in Hong Kong, up from Friday’s close of $1,523-$1,524.

In other markets:

— Singapore closed up 0.16 percent, or 5.08 points, at 3,140.60.

Property developer CapitaLand fell 0.64 percent to Sg$3.09 and SingTel dipped 0.32 percent to Sg$3.16.

— Taipei gained 0.16 percent, or 13.68 points, to 8,823.68.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was up 1.5 percent at Tw$75.1 and Hon Hai Precision, the parent of of technology giant Foxconn, fell 1.0 percent to Tw$100.0.

— Manila closed 0.48 percent, or 20.73 points, higher at 4,295.24.

The gains came despite data showing the economy grew weaker than expected in the first quarter.

Universal Robina rose 2.3 percent to 44 pesos, Aboitiz Power added 3.8 percent to 30.10 and port operator ICTSI gained 4.4 percent to 52.20.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone fell 1.1 percent to 2,450.

— Wellington closed 0.43 percent, or 15.03 points, higher at 3,542.99.

Air New Zealand slipped 1.8 percent to NZ$1.08, while Telecom rose 2.5 percent to NZ$2.43.

— Jakarta fell 0.16 percent, or 6.24 points, to 3,826.13.

Coal producer Harum Energy fell 2.6 percent to 9,300 rupiah, coal producer Adaro lost one percent to 2,375 rupiah and car maker Astra fell 0.3 percent to 59,050 rupiah.

— Kuala Lumpur fell 0.38 percent, or 5.85 points, to 1,542.84.

Flag carrier Malaysia Airlines dropped 6.9 percent to 1.35 ringgit and financial firm CIMB Group Holdings shed 0.4 percent to 8.26 but Telekom Malaysia inched up 0.3 percent to 3.89.

— Bangkok added 0.89 percent, or 9.50 points, to 1,076.50.

Banpu lost 2 baht to 748 but PTT Plc gained 4 baht to 358.

— Mumbai fell 0.19 percent, or 34.04 points, to 18,232.06.

Mahindra and Mahindra fell 5.34 percent to 664.6 rupees and Tata Motors fell 0.96 percent to 1,078.15.