(Repeats to additional subscribers)
By Louise Heavens
SINGAPORE, May 8 (Reuters) - Oil's relentless push to yet
another record high pressured Asian shares across the board on
Thursday, raising fears that inflation -- and central bank
measures to cool it -- would hurt consumer spending and
profits.
The dollar rose against the euro, which fell to a six-week
low against the U.S. currency as weak euro zone retail sales
sparked concern about the region's economy.
Also weighing was a Financial Times article that said the
United States and Europe now have a united desire to see the
dollar strengthen against the euro, some traders said.
The rising dollar put pressure on gold <XAU=> and
industrial metals.
U.S. crude <CLc1> added a further 23 cents to trade at
$123.76 in early trade in Asia. Prices have doubled in a year
and risen sixfold since 2002 on rising demand from China and
other developing countries, adding pressure to economies
already hit hard by a housing and credit crunch and rising food
costs.
The advance in crude oil prices to fresh highs came a day
after investment bank Goldman Sachs said oil prices could scale
$200 a barrel in the next two years as part of an ongoing
"super spike" in the market.
The head of the state-run company of OPEC member Libya also
said oil prices would likely rise further amid continued
investor interest in commodities and simmering global political
tensions. []
Stocks in Asia took their cue from Wall Street's tumble
overnight, where a drop in shares in banks, home builders and
companies dependent on consumer spending sent the Dow Jones
industrial average <> down 1.6 percent.
Tokyo's Nikkei average fell 0.7 percent by 0057 GMT, with
banks, such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group <8306.T> among
the top fallers.
"The tumble in New York contributed to the fall here, but
what's more important is that Japanese stocks have become
rather expensive in terms of valuations," said Norihiro Fujito,
general manager of the investment research and information
division at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
"The Nikkei average's expected price-earnings ratio was
16.5 times yesterday, compared to about 16.6 times in Hong Kong
and 17.7 times in India. Do you think investors would want to
buy Japanese stocks, considering their valuations level, just
as they would Indian and Chinese stocks?"
Shares across the rest of Asia <.MIAPJ0000PUS> fell 0.6
percent. The benchmark is down around 7.7 percent so far this
year.
Stock indexes in Sydney <>, Seoul <>, Singapore
<.FTSTI>, and Taiwan fell between 0.3-1.1 percent.
In the currency markets, the euro fell to $1.5343 <EUR=>,
slipping below a trough hit last Friday when U.S. data showed
companies cut fewer workers than expected in April.
The dollar traded at 104.79 yen <JPY=>.
The 10-year Japanese government bond yield was steady at
1.660 percent <JP10YTN=JBTC>, while June 10-year JGB futures
edged up 0.14 of a point to 135.61 <2JGBv1>.
