Most Asian shares down after Wall St tumble

Tokyo fell 0.70 percent, or 66.23 points, to 9,448.21 and Shanghai lost 0.94 percent in the afternoon while Hong Kong fell 0.64 percent.

But Seoul edged up 0.10 percent, or 2.07 points, to 2,048.74, breaking a seven session losing streak, although Singapore was 0.50 percent off.

Sydney was closed for a public holiday.

Markets extended their recent run of losses as dealers grow increasingly concerned over the state of the global economy, with US data pointing to a slowdown in the recovery there, while China's growth also looks to be easing.

On Wall Street on Friday the Dow shed 1.42 percent, the S&P 500 lost 1.40 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq lost 1.53 percent.

The Dow has now posted a loss for the past six consecutive weeks for the first time since 2002 as recent jobs data and manufacturing figures suggest the economy is weakening.

In Tokyo on Monday, exporters were weighed as the yen strengthened against the euro amid worries about the European sovereign debt crisis.

The European common currency was sold off after news last week that authorities were looking at a potential Greek debt "rescheduling".

The euro saw its steepest one-day sell-off for a month on Friday, sliding to 115.23 yen from 116.42 yen the previous day.

In early Tokyo trade the single currency was at 115.36 yen.

"The current level of the euro still is too high for us," said Daisuke Karakama, market economist at the forex division of Mizuho Corporate Bank. "It's not too wise to keep a long position now."

The Nikkei was also hit by a 2.42 percent loss on Toyota Motor, which was sold after it projected net profit for the fiscal year ending March 31 would drop 31 percent to 280 billion yen, even lower than analysts' forecasts.

The euro also eased to $1.4335 from $1.4348 late on Friday in New York while the dollar fetched 80.45 yen against 80.31 yen.

The New Zealand dollar tumbled against the greenback after Christchurch was hit by a strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake Monday, its third since September.

The "Kiwi" sank to US$0.8128 after hitting a record high US$0.8298 on Friday.

Shanghai shares tumbled because of worries about a liquidity squeeze after figures showed new loans by banks in May fell sharply from the previous month as the government tries to rein in the flood of cash that is stoking inflation.

Lenders handed out 551.6 billion yuan ($85.14 billion) in loans last month, compared with 739.6 billion yuan in April -- and 100.5 billion yuan less than a year earlier, the People's Bank of China said in a statement.

On oil markets New York's main contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, lost 54 cents to $98.75 a barrel, while Brent North Sea crude for July was down 27 cents to $118.51 in the afternoon.

Gold opened at $1,532.00-$1,533.00 an ounce in Hong Kong, down from Friday's day's close of $1,542.70-$1,543.70.

In other markets:

-- Taipei dived 1.41 percent, or 124.87 points, to 8,712.95.

Leading smartphone maker HTC slumped 7.0 percent to Tw$1.09 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.8 percent lower at Tw$74.7.

-- Manila gained 1.14 percent, or 48.04 points, to 4,171.54.

Metropolitan Bank & Trust was down 0.9 percent at 68.50 pesos and SM Investments dipped 0.4 percent to 538 pesos, while Philippine Long Distance Telephone shed 0.1 percent to 2,298 pesos.

-- Wellington slipped 0.40 percent, or 13.94 points, to 3,476.68.

The earthquake in Christchurch hit stocks amid rising concerns over the already weak economy. Tower Ltd ended down 2.2 percent at NZ$1.78

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011