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HONG KONG : Wall Street jitters set a bearish tone in Asian trade Monday, with most markets edging lower as traders reacted to Friday's falls, but Shanghai staging a comeback.
In subdued trade, with Tokyo closed for a holiday, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 1.46 percent, a seven-day low, led by major banks, with Macquarie down 2.60 percent in quiet trade.
Perth-based miner Sundance Resources closed down 7.69 percent as trade in its stocks resumed after being suspended on June 20 following the death of most of its board members in a plane crash in west Africa.
Hong Kong closed down 0.79 percent, with the falls broad-based but led by major bank HSBC -- down 2.25 percent. Agricultural Bank of China, which had its high-profile debut in Hong Kong on Friday, was down 1.83 percent at 3.21 Hong Kong dollars, just a cent above its IPO price.
Bucking the trend, China Unicom rose 2.00 percent after announcing increased growth in 3G mobile subscribers in June compared to May.
"Investors are reluctant to make significant bets amid mounting economic uncertainties," commented investment holding company 3V Research, quoted by Dow Jones Newswires.
However, Shanghai closed up 2.11 percent, led by blue chips including banks and coal miners primarily due to bargain hunting and reduced worries about further economic tightening measures.
Mumbai's stock exchange closed down 0.15 percent, or 27.4 points, at 17,928.42.
India's second biggest mobile phone firm Reliance Communications rose 2.22 percent on media reports that Abu Dhabi's telecom giant Etisalat was keen to pick up a 26 percent stake in the Indian firm. Reliance Communications is looking for an investor to help reduce its debt and upgrade its network.
But investors generally remained nervous as the US corporate earnings season gets into full swing, with reports this week from companies such as Apple, Goldman Sachs and Yahoo, and as US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies in Congress on monetary policy on Wednesday and Thursday.
Stocks dived Friday after the sagging consumer confidence index from the University of Michigan and mixed earnings data, with European stock markets also sharply lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 2.52 percent.
For Japan, a concern is likely to be any further strengthening in the yen after a surge last week hit exporters such as Toyota, Nissan and Sony.
The Financial Times said any continued rise made it likely Japanese authorities would intervene to shield the country's stock markets and exporters.
In other markets, Singapore's Straits Times Index closed down 0.42 percent or 12.30 points at 2,945.42.
Seoul fell 0.37 percent or 6.50 points to 1,731.95 while Taipei closed down 0.19 percent or 14.74 points at 7,649.83.
Manila ended down 0.53 percent or 18.39 points at 3,424.29 points, while Jakarta fell 0.56 percent or 16.87 points to 2,975.57.
Bangkok rose 0.35 percent or 2.86 points to 830.40 while Kuala Lumpur closed up 0.25 percent or 3.3 points at 1,333.35.
The dollar gained against the euro and the yen in Asian trade on Monday as risk-averse investors fled to the greenback following last week's Wall Street fall.
The euro was trading at 1.2905 dollars against the greenback in afternoon trade in Asia, compared to 1.2926 dollars on Friday. One US dollar bought 86.66 yen, compared with 86.62 yen on Friday.
Oil prices dipped in Asia as sentiment was dampened by weak US economic data that spurred concerns about slow demand in the world's largest energy consumer, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, had shed six cents to 75.95 dollars a barrel by the afternoon, while Brent North Sea crude for September was three cents off at 75.34.
"Oil prices have come off somewhat and the US economic data released (last week) was a little bit on the soft side," said David Moore, a Sydney-based commodity strategist with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Gold closed at 1,192.00-1,193.00 US dollars an ounce in Hong Kong, down from Friday's close of 1,208.00-1,209.00 dollars.
- AFP/ir
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