Asian stocks fell, dragging the regional index to three-month lows following the sell-off in US stocks. The yen was up 0,2% to 108.65 against the US dollar after a day off for Japanese stocks. Also on the currency front, the New Zealand dollar rose 0,3% from its yearly lows against the greenback, thanks to a smaller-than-expected trade deficit. Gold was down 0,1% after yesterday's 0,7% gains.
Conflicting data on the global manufacturing front and US plans to limit corporate deals for tax purposes fueled losses in US stocks. The US air raids in Syria also generate pessimism. German business confidence data is on the way after the Markit for euro area companies fell more-than-expected. A Japanese manufacturing data and one on the US home market are also on the way.
"The heightened concerns in the Middle East and growth concerns in Europe are contributing to a risk averse environment," said Matthew Sherwood, head of investment markets research at Perpetual in Sydney. The MSCI Pacific index lost 0,2 % at 12:22 in Tokyo, and Japan's Topix was down 0,5% on its post-holiday recovery day. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0,7 percent. Bucking the trend, the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong was up 0,7% after falling nine times in the past ten days. The Hang Seng Index (0,4%) and the Shanghai Composite (0,6%) were also up.
Meanwhile, the Bloomberg China-US Equity Index of the most traded Chinese stocks in New York fell 0,1%, making it the third day of losses. In particular, e-commerce giant Alibaba fell 3% to $87,17 for the second consecutive day on fears about the future of the Chinese economy.
