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发表于 3-2-2006 14:53:00|来自:新加坡
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GLOBAL MARKETS-U.S. inflation fears knock Asian stocks<BR>Friday, February 3, 2006 3:14:01 AM <BR><a href="http://www.reuters.com/" target="_blank" >http://www.reuters.com</A> <BR><BR>
<P>By Alex Richardson</P>
<P>SINGAPORE, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Growing concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve may extend its campaign of raising interest rates kept the dollar near a seven-week high against the yen on Friday and dragged Asian share markets lower.</P>
<P>U.S. crude oil prices held steady below $65 a barrel, after dropping nearly $2 on Thursday due to swelling fuel stockpiles in the United States, while gold retreated from a 25-year high.</P>
<P>Oil's slide knocked shares in energy companies, with Japan's top oil producer Inpex Corp. <1604.T> down 2.4 percent and the country's largest refiner Nippon Oil Corp. <5001.T> 1.8 percent lower.</P>
<P>Tokyo's Nikkei <.N225> ended the morning session down 0.5 percent and MSCI's index of non-Japan Asian shares <.MSCIAPJ> was 0.8 percent lower at 0210 GMT.</P>
<P>"There is no good news from the U.S. The economic reports were not good, earnings were not good, and U.S. markets fell. That creates worries about whether this signals a turnaround in global markets," said Kim Dong-uk, an equity strategist at Daishin Securities in South Korea.</P>
<P>"It's time to start looking at fundamentals, and it's hard to justify buying stocks."</P>
<P>U.S. DATA</P>
<P>Data released in the United States on Thursday showing higher labour costs and fewer-than-expected jobless claims prompted concerns that inflation pressure was building in the world's largest economy, which could prompt the Federal Reserve to keep raising interest rates.</P>
<P>On Wall Street, blue chips <.DJI> dropped 0.9 percent while the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> lost 1.25 percent.</P>
<P>At 0210 GMT, the dollar was trading around 118.36 yen <JPY=>, down a little from its level in late New York trade on Thursday, when it hit a seven-week week high of 118.66 yen on electronic trading platform EBS.</P>
<P>The dollar has risen since the Fed, the U.S. central bank, lifted its key interest rate to 4.5 percent earlier in the week and signalled further hikes were possible.</P>
<P>Traders said the market was looking to U.S. non-farm payroll numbers due later on Friday for direction.</P>
<P>The median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists is for the data to show 240,000 jobs were added in January, though forecasts were as high as 300,000.</P>
<P>"If such a strong figure comes out, the market will start to expect an additional rate hike after one in March," said Kota Kimura, manager of forex at Shinkin Central Bank in Japan.</P>
<P>The euro <EUR=> was trading little changed against the U.S. currency at around $1.2092.</P>
<P>EARNINGS BOOST MATSUSHITA</P>
<P>In Tokyo, electronics and technology stocks mostly fell, with electronics components maker Kyocera <6971.T> down 1.9 percent and Canon Inc. <7751.T>, the world's biggest maker of digital cameras, 0.8 percent lower.</P>
<P>But Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. <6752.T>, the maker of Panasonic goods, gained 2.2 percent after reporting its highest quarterly profit in 14 years and raising its full year outlook after the market closed on Thursday.</P>
<P>"Matsushita's earnings look fairly strong, when compared with some manufacturers like Sony <6758.T>, whose higher quarterly profits were mainly due to a fall in the yen," said Zenshiro Mizuno, senior managing director at Marusan Securities.</P>
<P>"I think investor appetite for such stocks will stay strong and limit the market's downside."</P>
<P>NYMEX crude for March delivery <CLc1> was up 5 cents at $64.73 after Thursday's steep decline, prompted by growing inventories in the United States.</P>
<P>"We are getting close to short-term oversold levels. The data inventories are bearish. Fundamentals are not agreeing with the price levels of the market," said a New York trader with a European bank. "We could see a dollar or two on the short-term downside before consolidating."</P>
<P>Spot gold <XAU=> was trading around $571.70 an ounce, down from Thursday's quarter-century peak of $574.60.</P>
<P>Seoul shares <.KS11> were down 2.4 percent, with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. <005930.KS>, the world's biggest maker of memory chips, losing 1.8 percent.</P>
<P>Hong Kong's Hang Seng <.HSI> was 1.6 percent lower, Singapore's Straits Times <.STI> was down 0.35 percent and Australia's S&P ASX 200 <.AXJO> shed 0.4 percent.</P>
<P>But Taiwan's benchmark index <.TWII> bucked the trend, rising 0.5 percent as it reopened after the Lunar New Year holiday.</P>
<P>Gains were led by top cash card issuer Taishin Financial Holding Co. <2887.TW>, which rose 6.8 percent after it said U.S. private equity firm Newbridge Capital Ltd. will invest in the firm. </P><BR>
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