Gold rose to near a 6-1/2 month high as the US dollar sagged against the yen on Thursday, while Asian stocks were mostly higher though some exporters such as Canon Inc lagged.
The dollar slid below 108 yen for the first time since July 12, trading at 107.85, compared with 108.20 in late trade in New York. The euro fetched $1.2586 compared with $1.2582 in late New York trade, not far off a near eight-month high of 1.2628 set in that session.
"The long period of stability for the US dollar may be coming to an end. It is definitive, but the slide against the euro and the yen seems to be gathering momentum," said Mark Tierney, international strategist at Acquire Bank.
Traders' also said strong oil prices stoked concerns about the US economy and its growing current account deficit. US light crude hovered under $55 a barrel in Asian trade, up three cents to $54.44 a barrel.
Crude prices had surged overnight to just short of Monday's record $55.33 after the US government said distillate stocks, including heating oil and diesel fuel, fell 1.9 million barrels last week to 119 million barrels.
Japan's Nikkei stock average ended the session down 0.47 percent at 10,830.53. An MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.08 percent, with the strongest showing from its technology component, up 0.81 percent.
Spot gold traded at $424.75, up from $423.20 quoted in late New York but still slightly below the overnight peak of $425.65 levels not seen since April.
Shares of some top exporters suffered.
Honda Motor Co Ltd, Japan's third-largest auto maker which earns nearly three quarters of sales overseas, fell 0.78 percent. Leading office machine maker Canon Inc shed 1.15 percent.
Japan's September trade surplus rose a smaller-than-expected 12.7 percent from the same month a year, but was down 21.8 percent from August on a seasonally adjusted basis, fuelling concerns an export-led recovery may be losing steam.
Yahoo Japan Corp dropped 2.78 percent after Japan's top Internet portal disappointed with a forecast for little profit growth in the current quarter.
Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co Ltd, Japan's biggest electric furnace steel-maker, fell 1.53 percent despite its second upward profit revision in three months.
Benchmark indexes in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia edged up between 0.17 and 0.78 percent. South Korea's benchmark index fell 0.1 percent.
Some technology stocks showed strength.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's top contract chip maker, rose 0.93 percent while shares of the world's top memory chip maker, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, gained 1.4 percent, and LG Electronics Inc rose 1.56 percent.
Other active stocks included Australian mining firms BHP Billion and Rio Tinto, which rebounded on higher September production figures.
Media giant News Corp fell 1.75 percent, less than a week ahead of a shareholder vote on its plan to reincorporate in the United States. The move is expected to win approval.
Japanese government bond (JGB) prices roses, with the yield on the benchmark 264th 10-year JGB down 2.0 basis points at 1.430 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 0.11 percent at 9,886.93, but the technology-laced Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.52 percent to 1,932.97.
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