Asia: Declines as dealers take profits

HONG KONG: Asian markets fell yesterday as profit-takers moved in to reverse earlier gains, but the dollar extended its recent upward trend against the yen.

The regional losses came despite another record close for the Dow Jones index on Wall Street, while Shanghai suffered another steep fall after the weekend's disappointing data on the Chinese economy.

Tokyo slipped 0.28 per cent, or 34.24 points, to 12,314.81, Seoul lost 0.5 per cent, or 10.01 points, to 1,993.34 while Sydney fell 0.56 per cent, or 29.0 points, to 5,117.9.

Meanwhile, Shanghai lost 1.04 percent, or 23.98 points, to 2,286.61.

The losses come after shares enjoyed a broad run-up in recent sessions as the Dow hit an all-time high.

The index continued its rally on Monday thanks to Friday's upbeat jobs numbers that has fuelled optimism over the health of the world's biggest economy.

"Expectations of a US economic recovery are strong," Daisaku Ueno, senior foreign exchange strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley told Dow Jones Newswires. The jobs data "changed the picture for the dollar/yen".

In other markets:

* Wellington rose 0.28 per cent, or 12.19 points, to 4,378.76. Telecom rose 1.2 per cent to NZ$2.45 and Auckland Airport added 2.1 per cent to NZ$2.88 but Fletcher Building shed 1.7 per cent to NZ$9.10.

* Manila fell 0.40 per cent, or 27.53 points, to 6,786.42. PLDT gained 0.34 per cent to 2,960 pesos but SM Investment rose 0.63 per cent to 1,104 pesos.

* Taipei fell 0.55 per cent, or 44.01 points, to 7,994.71. Fubon Financial Holding shed 4.32 per cent at T$42.1 while TSMC was 0.49 per cent higher at T$102.5. AFP