Asia ex-Japan shares down 4th day; outlook foggy

Asia stocks down
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By Kevin Plumberg
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian stocks outside Japan fell for a fourth day on Wednesday, weighed by resource-related shares and doubts about a global economic recovery, while U.S. Treasuries eased on profit taking after a surge overnight.
Japan's Nikkei share average outperformed the region, rising 0.9 percent on bargain hunting after a sharp drop on Tuesday and a shift into defensive sectors.
Major European stock market opened slightly weaker, with the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 dipping 0.5 percent, although Wall Street futures were actually up 0.4 percent.
Oil prices advanced after bouncing off $70 a barrel for a third day, convincing dealers that crude would have difficulty falling much below $70 if the dollar continued to weaken.
Several U.S. economic indicators this week have come in below expectations, raising fears that investors may have pushed up equity and commodity prices too far, too quickly. However, the corrective move lower in equity and commodity prices has been tame, so far.
"The market seems to be bewildered, facing lots of different factors," said Kazuyuki Kato, treasury department manager at Mizuho Trust and Banking in Tokyo. "And investors are shying away from taking risks after stocks entered a correction phase as optimism for the economy had gone too far," he said.
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.8 percent and looked set for its fourth consecutive day of losses. The index has now fallen 5.6 percent from an eight-month high reached two weeks ago.
The materials sector had continued to climb after the broad market began to drift lower after June 3, but along with the energy sector this week has been leading the region lower.
Australian shares fell 1.5 percent to the lowest close since June 1, led by miner BHP Billiton and bank stocks.
U.S. markets fell more than 1 percent overnight as mixed economic data and disappointing sales by top U.S. consumer electronic retailer Best Buy spurred worries about an anemic recovery.
The uncertain global economic outlook has made some investors convictionless, as they dance through trendless markets, but other investors are sticking to their guns.
"We'll have corrections along the way, but it's not a situation in which we have nothing to buy," said Mark Mobius, who manages around $24 billion in emerging market assets with Templeton Asset Management.
"Given the quantity of money being printed all over the world with the stimulus packages, equities are definitely going to be moving up," he said in an interview in Vienna.
Mobius said he was finding value in Russian and eastern European shares.
BRIC MUM ON DOLLAR Continued...
Source: Reuters