Asian shares slip, dollar near highs; HK unrest eyed

By Lisa Twaronite

TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian shares slumped on Wednesday as continued civil unrest in Hong Kong and a downbeat day on Wall Street sapped confidence, while the dollar index was close to a four-year high after marking its best quarterly gain in six years.

Trading in Asia was subdued with China closed for National Day and investors warily monitoring Hong Kong’s pro-democracy unrest, as thousands of protesters stepped up pressure on the city’s pro-Beijing government.

Chinese manufacturing data offered investors some relief, and helped put a floor under prices. The official Purchasing Managers’ Index was unchanged at 51.1 in September, slightly above market expectations, though the world’s second largest economy was not out of the woods yet.

“The economy still faces a degree of downward pressure,” Chen Zhongtao, an official at the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, which helps to compile the PMI data, said in a statement.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> was down 0.4 percent, though Japan’s Nikkei stock average <.N225> erased early losses and ticked up 0.3 percent as the dollar broke above the 110-yen level for the first time since August 2008.

The Bank of Japan’s closely watched tankan survey of business sentiment released before the market opened showed big manufacturers’ confidence improved slightly in the latest quarter, but service-sector sentiment worsened, adding to evidence that a sales tax hike continues to weigh on the economy.

The dollar added about 0.3 percent against the yen to 109.94, after rising to a six-year high of 110.09 yen earlier.

That helped lift the dollar index <.DXY>, by about 0.1 percent to 86.049, towards a four-year high of 86.218 touched overnight.

The euro skidded as low as $1.2571 on Tuesday after data showed cooling euro zone inflation, the culmination of a dismal month in which the currency slipped 3.82 percent – its biggest decline in over two years. It was last down about 0.2 percent on the day at $1.2613.

Data on Tuesday showed annual inflation cooled to 0.3 percent last month, well below the European Central Bank’s target of just under 2 percent, increasing speculation the bank will take more easing steps.

The Chinese data helped oil crawled off its overnight lows, but crude prices remained pressured by the dollar’s momentum. A stronger dollar raises the price of dollar-based commodities for holders of other currencies.

Brent crude added about 0.3 percent on the day to $94.97 a barrel, after marking a 16 percent loss for the quarter, the biggest in two years. U.S. crude added about 0.3 percent to $91.45 a barrel after shedding 12 percent for the quarter, also its biggest quarterly loss in two years, and posting its biggest daily decline since 2012.

The stronger dollar also took a toll on gold, which marked its first quarterly loss this year. Spot gold slipped about 0.2 percent to $1,206.03 an ounce.

(Additional reporting by Ian Chua in Sydney and Koh Gui Qing in Beijing; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

Asian shares slip, dollar near highs; HK unrest eyed