Asian stocks quiet amid holidays; Nikkei declines

A woman walks past an Indonesian stock exchange index board in Jakarta on September 27, 2012. AFP FILE PHOTO

BANGKOK – Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell Monday after a closely watched survey showed confidence in the economy weakening.

The Bank of Japan’s “tankan” confidence index was minus 3, a worsening from the previous quarter’s minus 1.

The index is a percentage of the companies with a positive outlook versus those who see unfavorable conditions ahead, so a minus number means there are more pessimistic companies than optimistic ones.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose marginally to 4,390.20, with solid gains among big banks and resource shares. Still, trading was light due to a public holiday in parts of the country.

Markets in China, Hong Kong and South Korea were closed for public holidays.

Wall Street stocks fell Friday. Investors remain nervous about Spain, even though the results of stress-tests for the country’s most troubled banks contained no surprises. A report in the U.S. showing that high gasoline prices were the only reason that consumer spending rose last month also weighed on market sentiment.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.4 percent to 13,437.13. The S&P 500 index fell 0.5 percent to 1,440.67. The Nasdaq composite index fell 0.7 percent to 3,116.23.

Benchmark oil for November delivery was down 68 cents to $91.51 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 34 cents to finish at $92.19 per barrel on the Nymex on Friday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.2828 from $1.2855 late Friday in New York. The dollar fell to 77.91 yen from 77.99 yen.