HONG KONG: Asian stocks mostly slipped today following renewed banking and employment worries in the United States, while the tanking US dollar kept currencies around the region close to record highs.
Expectations of US economic stimulus measures kept the dollar under pressure ahead of a speech later in Boston by US Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, after the greenback broke below the 81 yen level and almost hit parity against the Australian dollar.
Mark Smith, economist at ANZ bank in Wellington, told Dow Jones Newswires that doubts were starting to emerge about the effectiveness of likely US economic stimulus measures.
"Investors are starting to realise that looser US monetary policy may not be the magic bullet they were hoping for," he said.
But a warning from Japan's Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda of "decisive steps when necessary" to cap the yen's rise prevented the dollar falling further. Prime Minster Naoto Kan said he was "very concerned" by the situation.
Tokyo's Nikkei index ended down 0.87%, or 83.26 points, at 9500.25, as the strong yen hurt exporters.
Sydney closed down 0.21%, or 10.1 points, at 4,689, while Hong Kong was 0.44% lower in the afternoon.
However, Seoul closed up 0.13%, or 2.53 points, at 1,902.29 and Shanghai jumped 2.17%.
Strong gains
Traders were taking a breather after two days of strong gains across the region that were fuelled by hopes of monetary easing in the United States.
Expectations of US stimulus were given strength yesterday after Washington said new claims for unemployment benefits rose 13,000 last week, to 462,000, well above the forecast 450,000.
Worries about dubious practices in the US mortgage sector helped send Wall Street lower, although not all the US news was bad, with upbeat earnings reports from Google and chip maker AMD while expectations rose of a buy-out of Yahoo!
The dollar stood at 81.31 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, little changed from 81.44 in New York Thursday, where it plunged to a 15-year low of 80.89 yen at one point.
The euro stood at 1.4047 dollars and 114.34 yen, compared with 1.4083 dollars and 114.70 yen in New York.
The Australian dollar was almost at parity with the greenback, striking 99.94 US cents at one point before easing back to 99.25, while the Singapore dollar was at 1.263 against the US dollar.
When asked about the strength of the yen Japan's Kan today told Parliament: "I am very concerned about the current situation."
He added: "The G20 has agreed that excessive fluctuations in the currency market are not desirable. In this sense, the yen's abrupt rise is also seen as such an excessive fluctuation."
Japan last month stepped into the currency markets for the first time in six years after the dollar slumped to a 15-year low against the yen.
Gold opened at 1,379.00-1,380.00 US dollars an ounce in Hong Kong, down from yesterday's close of 1,383.00-1,384.00 dollars.
Asian markets slip as dollar sits near record lows
they should outsource work to the united states.
TL;Dr
if the cat read correctly
the US dollar is only worth 81 yen