By SHRI NAVARATNAM
SINGAPORE?Asian shares were mostly lower on Monday in cautious trade amid another drop on Wall Street on Friday, with concerns about a strong yen holding back Tokyo and mixed earnings reports denting Sydney.
Gold continued to remain well bid after surging to a fresh record high on Friday, while oil prices fell as Libyan rebels poured into Tripoli on Sunday after seizing a nearby military base, opening the way for a final strike against Col. Moammar Gadhafi's defenses.
"Another record level for gold and continued buying of bonds appear to indicate that globally investors are looking for a safety first approach," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney. "While shares look cheap on current measures, concerns about the global outlook may push them further into value territory on Monday," he said.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average lost 0.1%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was flat, South Korea's Kospi Composite shed 0.2% and New Zealand's NZX-50 was 0.1% lower.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 53 points in screen trade.
The soggy equities and risk-aversion weighed on the euro, while the yen pulled back against the dollar on expectations of potential intervention by Japanese authorities after the safe-haven currency surged to a fresh record high of �75.94 on Friday. Japan's Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda stepped up his rhetoric against the yen's strength on Monday, saying decisive steps will be taken to counter any speculative moves.
While the focus will shift to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech at the Fed's annual symposium in Jackson Hole on Friday, Credit Agricole said it believes "there is currently a high hurdle for QE3 and therefore another measure to promote stronger economic recover is more likely."
The dollar was at �76.60, from �76.54 late on Friday in New York. The euro was fetching $1.4371 against the greenback, from $1.4396, and �110.09 against the yen, compared with �110.20.
In Tokyo, demand was tentative as investors remained wary despite the yen giving up some ground after its record run on Friday.
Exporter stocks were mixed, with Toyota Motor off 2.0%, Sony off 0.5% while Canon tacked on 0.4%.
Regionally, stocks exposed to the global growth cycle remained under pressure.
The Seoul market continued to lose ground after recent large selloffs, while losses in banking stocks and mixed earnings reports capped demand in Sydney.
BlueScope Steel fell 9.5% after reporting a full-year net loss of A$1.05 billion, while Amcor advanced 4.4% after its full-year earnings of A$571 million topped market expectations.
Gold prices were solidly bid and were trading a touch off the record high of $1,878.18 per ounce tapped on Friday. The yellow metal was recently at $1,873.50, up $20.40 from New York. September Nymex crude oil futures were down five cents at $82.21 per barrel.
Write to Shri Navaratnam at shri.navaratnam@dowjones.com
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903327904576523080009356522.html?mod=WSJ_topics_obama
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