Asian shares mostly up, but edgy Tokyo slips

HONG KONG: Asian stocks mostly rose in choppy trade Monday but Tokyo fell amid caution ahead of the corporate reporting season and after news that Japan's nuclear crisis could stretch out for up to nine months.

Tokyo's Nikkei slipped 0.19 percent by the break, Hong Kong gained 0.41 percent, Sydney added 0.12 percent and Seoul rose 0.21 percent.

In Japan market-players are nervously awaiting the start of the earnings season, which will provide the first glimpse of the economic impact of last month's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

However, sentiment was weighed after Tokyo Electric Power, which operates the Fukushima nuclear plant that was stricken by the March 11 tragedies, said it hoped to achieve a "cold shutdown" within six to nine months.

"While laying out a timeline (for the reactor site shutdown) is a positive, the time frame could also be viewed as too long," Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Shanghai was up 0.10 percent, with traders virtually unmoved by news of another round of monetary tightening by China on Sunday.

The People's Bank of China said it would raise the amount of money banks must keep in reserve for the fourth time this year its latest move aimed at cooling lending and taming prices.

The move came after data Friday showed inflation at 5.4 percent year on year in March, a 32-month high despite four interest rate hikes since October.

"The (Chinese) market wouldn't be very sensitive to the hike in banks' reserve requirement ratio as investors had anticipated the central bank would launch further tightening steps in the short run after Friday's data release," said Shanghai Securities analyst Qian Weihai.

US stocks gained on Friday as investors welcomed a 0.5 percent rise in consumer prices in March, in line with expectations.

However, core inflation which strips out volatile oil and food prices, and which is more closely watched by the Federal Reserve rose a less than expected 0.1 percent.

The news led the Fed to say it would bring an end to its easy monetary policy in June, dashing hopes of an early exit that would limit the amount of cash in the markets.

On currency markets the dollar was lower at 82.98 yen, compared with 83.09.

The euro slipped after the Wall Street Journal reported the International Monetary Fund believes Greece's debt is unsustainable and has told European officials Athens should consider restructuring.

The single currency was also hurt by news that Moody's cut its credit rating on Ireland by two notches to just above junk status, citing an "expected decline" in government finances.

The euro fetched $1.4379 in Tokyo morning trading, down from $1.4431 in New York late Friday. The single European currency was at 119.33 yen, down from 119.91.

Oil prices edged down after last week's gains, although the weaker dollar provided some support.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May fell 70 cents to $108.96 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for June eased 42 cents to $123.03.

Gold opened at $1,486.00-$1,487.00 an ounce in Hong Kong, up from Friday's close of $1,473.00-$1,474.00.