Asian stocks edge lower ahead of weekends

Selling pressures evident in most of the markets expect China

The Asian market moved slightly lower today, giving up some of their gains recorded earlier in the week as the US dollar garnered some gains and the weak unemployment data from the US hurt risk appetite of the global investors. The US markets ended nominally in red last night but were off their five-month highs. Initial claims for unemployment aid rose by 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 462,000, the U.S. Labor Department said yesterday and the markets summed it up as an indication that high unemployment will continue to drag on an already weak recovery in the world's largest economy.



The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day down 1.51 points at 11,094.57. Renewed worries hit the banking and other financial stocks as more companies suspended foreclosures on homes while taking steps to confirm that they have fully complied with the law. In a move that effectively froze the market for foreclosed homes, the attorneys general of all 50 states announced Wednesday that they are planning to investigate whether banks took all the appropriate steps before foreclosing on hundreds of thousands of homes.

In Japan, Investors took profits ahead of a speech by the head of the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Yen continued to linger in a tight range, though the wild gains in the currency were tamed somewhat after Japan's finance minister Yoshihiko Noda that authorities would step in to cap the yen's rise. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 83.26 points or 0.87% to close out the day at 9500.25 points after recording steday gains in the last few sessions.

In Australia, markets slid slightly lower as investors booked profits though the select mining issues remained fairly strong and kept the losses limited. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index dropped 10.1 points or 0.2% to close at 4689, while the broader All Ordinaries index shed 7.7 points, or 0.2% to end at to 4758.2. On the economic front, the expectations for house price growth in the year ahead faltered, as higher interest rates contribute to softer monthly price rises. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer House Price Expectations Index fell to 51.1 in October from 58.8 in July, bringing the index well below a January peak of 80.3.

In China, the market mood continued to be bullish though as stocks went up for a seventh day, capping the longest rally in 11 months on strong economic growth prospects supported the upward surge. Banks and financials led the gains and the Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of China's stock exchanges, added 91.52, or 3.2% to end at 2,971.16 as global stocks rallied. The CSI 300 Index also added 3.2% to close at 3,327.68.

In India, the key benchmark indices suffered a severe setback in late trade as blue-chips fell on profit booking after a recent solid surge which had propelled the key benchmark indices to 33-months highs. IT stocks led the sell-off after sector bellwether Infosys cautioned about the global economic environment at the time of announcing Q2 September 2010 results before trading hours today. The BSE 30-share Sensex was provisionally down 392.26 points or 1.91% to 20,105.38, off 473.07 points from the day's high and up 15.20 points from the day's low.

In other markets, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong 0.40%, the Straits Times index in Singapore edged 0.29% while the TSEC index in Taiwan dropped 0.12%. The dollar steadied after plumbing a low for the year against major currencies overnight on expectations the Fed will soon have to flood the banking system with freshly printed cash to support the economy. The Euro/ USD pair is currently quoting at 1.4092 right now. Crude oil futures stayed locked in a tight range, coming off a high of $83.10 per barrel and currently quoting at $82.56, down 13 cents on the day. Gold traded thinly today after hitting fresh highs near $1390 per ounce in the last session. The commodity was last seen quoting at $1377.50, down 0.10 cents on the day.