* Japan bank shares sag on Nomura $5.6 bln share offering
* Dollar reverses gains, falls on G20 draft statement
* Flows to equities, bonds still solid-EPFR
By Kevin Plumberg
HONG KONG, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Financial and
consumer-related shares rose in Asia and the U.S. dollar turned
lower on Friday as G20 leaders pledged in a draft statement to
keep some stimulus supports in place until a recovery is
clearer.
Major European shares were expected to open higher,
according to financial bookmakers, following the draft
statements that were obtained by Reuters. U.S. stock futures
<SPc1> reversed early losses and rose 0.3 percent.
[]
Japan's Nikkei share average <> led declining equity
markets in Asia, falling 2.5 percent.
Bank shares dropped after Nomura Holdings <8604.T> said it
would raise in an equity offering up to $5.6 billion, what one
broker pointed out was 24 times its average daily turnover.
[]
Banks in Japan also received a blow from financial services
minister Shizuka Kamei who expressed interest in introducing a
moratorium on the repayment of the principal on mortgages and
bank loans to help small and midsize businesses. []
"Worries about the moratorium idea and the news about
Nomura's financing are weighing down on the financial sector,"
Junichi Misawa, senior fund manager at STB Asset Management in
Tokyo said.
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> was largely unchanged, not far from a 13-month
high hit on Wednesday.
The consumer discretionary sector was a clear favourite
among investors in the wake of the draft G20 statements to
promote more balanced current accounts.
A Thomson Reuters index of regional shares <.TRXFLDAXPU>
was also nearly unchanged.
WORLD INDEX DOWN
The MSCI all-country world index <.MIWD00000PUS> is down
1.7 percent so far this week, on track for the biggest weekly
decline since the week of July 12. The index is up 25 percent
year-to-date, but the likelihood that economic news will
continue to deliver positive surprises and trigger more buying
was smaller.
"Our trading stance remains 'pro-risk,' reflecting our view
that this pullback -- like those before it -- will likely be
temporary," said Dominic Wilson, director of global macro and
markets research with Goldman Sachs, in a note.
"But industrial news is undershooting a bit lately relative
to high expectations and it is less clear what will take the
market higher in the very near-term."
Despite an eight-week streak of outflows from safe haven
money market funds being broken, equity funds took in $5.42
billion in the week to Sept. 23, with emerging market equity
funds having their biggest week of inflows since early June,
fund tracker EPFR Global said in a note. []
In currency markets, the dollar was down against most major
currencies. The euro was up 0.1 percent to $1.4685 <EUR=> after
climbing to the highest in a year above $1.48 on Wednesday.
Sterling continued to be an open target after Bank of
England's Mervyn King said on Thursday that a weak currency was
helping the domestic economy. After dropping 1.8 percent on
Thursday, the pound fell a further 0.4 percent to $1.5991
<GBP=>.
The Australian dollar, which has maintained a tight
relationship with global equity markets, rose 0.3 percent to
US$0.8682 <AUD=>
U.S. Treasuries were steady after a rush out of equities on
Thursday weighed on yields. Japanese government bonds gained
after the overnight Treasuries rally, with the December 10-year
JGB future <2JGBv1> up 0.22 point after earlier hitting the
highest since Sept. 15.
U.S. crude futures recovered after tumbling over 4 percent
to an eight-week low the previous day when weak U.S. home sales
increased fears about the pace of economic recovery in the
world's top oil consumer nation.
U.S. crude for November delivery <CLc1> was up 0.7 percent
at $66.33 a barrel, after settling down $3.08 on Thursday, when
the housing data added to demand worries following a report
earlier in the week of a large build in oil stockpiles.
(Additional reporting by Aiko Hayashi in TOKYO; Editing by
Jeremy Laurence)
