* MSCI Asia ex-Japan off 1 pct to 5-week low, Nikkei sheds
0.7 pct
* Euro slips but in recent ranges, dollar/yen firm
* Aussie hits fresh six-week low vs USD on China worries
By Chikako Mogi
TOKYO, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Asian shares hit five-week lows
and the euro fell on Wednesday, as investors grew edgy ahead of
a pivotal European Central Bank meeting on Thursday and U.S.
payroll data on Friday.
Investors braced for the possibility that the ECB will act
less boldly than they earlier hoped. Still, if the ECB
disappoints and the U.S. data is bad, that should boost chances
government need to take more action to counter global woes.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
tumbled 1 percent to a five-week low, with its
materials sector by far the worst performer with
a 2 percent slump, and dragging resource-rich Australian shares
down 1 percent to a one-month low.
The pan-Asian index has now wiped out all the gains built
through the summer break on comments in early August by ECB
President Mario Draghi that bolstered hopes for decisive action
to deal with the three-year-long euro zone debt crisis.
Japan’s Nikkei stock average slid 0.7 percent to a
four-week low.
“It’s a correction as we get nearer to Thursday,” said
Frances Cheung, senior strategist at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong
Kong. “Hopes for more policy support were sustained during the
summer because there were no major deadlines, but now we do have
deadlines, and the risk is, there could be some disappointment.”
“So it’s very natural for investors to keep themselves to
the sidelines and to prepare for any tail risk, like the ECB not
delivering,” she said.
Cheung said she expects investors to view bad data as
pointing to more policy measures aimed at supporting markets.
European shares fell and U.S. stocks closed mixed while the
euro slid on Tuesday. U.S. Treasuries gave back some of Friday’s
gains and two-year Spanish and Italian yields fell.
An Institute for Supply Management survey on Tuesday showed
U.S. manufacturing shrank in August at its sharpest clip in more
than three years, the latest sign that the slowing global
economy is weighing on the fragile U.S. recovery.
But U.S. automakers turned in their best August since before
the 2007-09 recession. That suggests consumers may continue to
benefit from low interest rates, helping to support that part of
the manufacturing sector, Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic
strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. LLC, said in a note.
The euro slipped 0.2 percent but traded within recent ranges
at $1.2540, while the dollar inched up 0.1 percent
against the yen to 78.45 yen.
Market expectations for additional monetary stimulus from
the U.S. Federal Reserve gained momentum after Fed Chairman Ben
Bernanke last Friday said the Fed was ready to act if needed.
His comments weakened the dollar and pushed down Treasury
yields.
“The Fed is likely to ease further this month but exactly
what options it will take will depend on data. So until we see
the jobs report, we can’t push markets either way,” said Yuji
Saito, director of foreign exchange at Credit Agricole in Tokyo.
Investors likely took profits on Treasuries and bought back
the dollar as they adjusted positions, he said, adding the
dollar may stay firm against the yen with stops eyed around
78.55-78.60 yen and offers near 78.70-78.80 capping the upside.
U.S. employers likely added 125,000 workers in August, but
the jobless rate is seen steady at an elevated 8.3 percent,
posing a major drag on the economy. The Fed meets on Sept.
12-13.
For the ECB, markets expect the bank to outline its
bond-buying programme aimed at driving down the yields of highly
indebted countries such as Spain to reduce the cost of their
financing.
Some expect the ECB may offer some details such as
identifying maturities of bonds it intends to buy, most likely
two to three years.
GROWTH CONCERNS REMAIN
The Australian dollar hit a fresh six-week low
around $1.0190, hit by the economic slowdown in China, the
world’s second-largest and Australia’s largest export market.
Australia’s economy enjoyed solid growth last quarter but an
interest rate cut may be in store to protect growth.
Falling prices of Australia’s key exports such as iron ore
due to slackening Chinese demand have forced miners to cut
capital spending as well as their expansion plans.
Steel futures in Shanghai sank to an all-time low
of 3,255 yuan on Wednesday while iron ore dipped
below $87 a tonne on Tuesday to its lowest since October 2009.
“With what’s happened with commodity prices in the last
couple of months, the income story is turning against us in a
fairly significant way. That insulation does look like it’s a
little frayed,” said Michael Blythe, chief economist at the
Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
From China, the HSBC services sector Purchasing Managers’
Index fell to 52.0 in August from 53.1 in July for its slowest
pace of growth in a year, following gloomy manufacturing polls
released earlier in the week.
Growing expectations for more accommodative monetary policy
boosted the appeal of gold as a hedge against future inflation
risks. Spot gold eased 0.1 percent to $1,692.29 an ounce,
off a six-month high of $1,698.45 reached on Tuesday.
Oil was mixed, with U.S. crude up 0.1 percent to
$95.38 a barrel while Brent fell 0.2 percent to $113.98.
