Traders on sidelines as Asian markets slip

MOST Asian markets have closed lower, with few catalysts to drive buying after recent gains.

At the close on Wednesday, Tokyo fell 0.61 per cent, or 75.15 points to 12,239.66, Sydney slipped 0.5 per cent, or 25.5 points, to 5,092.4, while Seoul rose 0.32 per cent, or 6.39 points, to 1,999.73.

The yen edged up slightly as investors weighed reports that Japan's main opposition party would vote against one of the government's nominations for deputy governor of the country's central bank.

Hong Kong shed 1.46 per cent, or 333.95 points, to end at 22,556.65, while Shanghai fell 0.99 per cent, or 22.64 points, to 2,263.97.

Traders took a breather as they awaited fresh buying impetus, with the Dow extending its record-breaking run to six sessions but only by squeezing out a marginal gain of 0.02 per cent.

However, the broad-market S&P 500 fell 0.24 per cent, snapping a seven-session winning streak that had taken it to within a whisker of its all-time high. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.32 per cent.

In Tokyo the Nikkei rolled back slightly as the US dollar struggled to advance any further against the yen, having shot up by about 20 per cent since November.

The greenback saw some selling pressure on Tuesday in New York after reports that Japan's largest opposition party said it would not back the nomination of Kikuo Iwata to serve as the Bank of Japan's deputy governor.

Iwata, along with the nominee for governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, is a strong supporter of giving more control of the BoJ to the government and an advocate of further aggressive monetary easing.

His failure to win approval could raise questions about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's clout, analysts said.

The Democratic Party of Japan, however, did say it would support the nominations of Kuroda and Hiroshi Nakaso, in line for the second available post as deputy governor.

Sean Callow, senior currency strategist at Westpac in Sydney, told Dow Jones Newswires: "The local press is confident that all three nominees will eventually be accepted."

On currency markets the US dollar slipped to Y95.56 from Y96.05 in New York late on Tuesday. It had been at Y96.40 earlier on Tuesday in Asia.

The euro bought Y124.80 and $US1.3057, compared with Y125.19 and $US1.3035.

And the pound bought $US1.4953 from $US1.4903 late on Tuesday, with the British unit recovering slightly after a sell on weak industrial production numbers that fuelled fears the economy could slip into recession again.

Oil prices were mixed, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, gaining 31 cents to $US92.85 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for April delivery losing 29 cents to $US109.36.

Gold was at $US1,592.78 an ounce at 1050 GMT (2150 AEDT) compared with $US1,582.70 late on Tuesday.

In other markets:

- Wellington fell 0.86 per cent, or 37.62 points, to 4,341.15.

Telecom eased 6.0 per cent to NZ$2.30 while Auckland Airport was down 4.2 per cent at NZ$2.76 and Fletcher Building lost 1.76 per cent to NZ$8.94.

- Manila closed 0.15 per cent lower, giving up 9.86 points to 6,776.56.

SM Investments fell 0.54 per cent to 1,098 pesos and Ayala Land dropped 0.64 per cent to 31.20 pesos, while Alliance Global Group slipped 1.79 per cent to 22 pesos.

- Taipei ended flat, edging up 0.80 points to 7,995.51.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. rose 1.95 per cent to Tw$104.5 while smartphone maker HTC fell 3.98 per cent to Tw$241.0.

- Kuala Lumpur lost 0.62 per cent, or 10.32 points, to 1,646.22.

CIMB Group shed 1.9 per cent to 7.11 ringgit, RHB Capital lost 3.5 per cent to 8.15 while Petronas Gas gained 1.9 per cent to 18.96.

- Bangkok added 0.13 per cent, or 2.02 points, to 1,578.70.

Oil company Bangchak Petroleum rose 4.26 per cent to 36.75 baht, while Kiatnakin Bank jumped 4.00 per cent to 65.00 baht.

- Jakarta was down 0.39 per cent, or 18.87 points, at 4,835.44.

Cement producer Semen Indonesia lost 1.91 per cent to 18,000 rupiah, auto manufacturer Astra International dropped 1.24 per cent to 7,950 rupiah, while paper maker Pabrik Kertas Tjiwi Kimia gained 2.35 per cent to 2,175 rupiah.

- Singapore dropped 0.44 per cent, or 14.50 points, to 3,288.52.

Singapore Airlines gained 0.18 per cent to Sg$10.89 while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation shed 1.16 per cent to Sg$10.25.

- Mumbai fell 1.03 per cent, or 202.37 points, to 19,362.55 points.

Infosys was down 1.89 per cent at 2,862.45 rupees and Tata Motors shed 1.15 per cent to 300.80 rupees.

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