* Asian stock markets slip from 10-month highs
* China homebuilder CSCEC jumps 60 pct in Shanghai debut
* But Shanghai index drops 5 pct on property, steel shares
* Oil drops below $67 a barrel on rise in crude inventories
By Charlotte Cooper
TOKYO, July 29 (Reuters) - Asian shares tumbled from
multi-month peaks on Wednesday, in a sell-off led by the
Shanghai market, as investors booked in profits ahead of more
company earnings.
Japanese shares gained, but stock indices in Australia and
Hong Kong fell after strong run-ups in the past two weeks. The
MSCI Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> fell
2.6 percent, flagging after a climb this week to a 10-month
high.
In Europe, stock eased after Chinese stocks fell as
investors worried banks there may start to restrict lending,
and S&P futures <SPc1> signalled a soft start on Wall Street.
Shares in China State Construction Engineering Corp
<601668.SS>, whose $7.3 billion IPO last week was the world's
largest in a year, jumped 70 percent at its debut, besting
expectations -- but also stirring concerns about asset price
bubbles. []
It was the second big listing in Shanghai since China
resumed IPOs last month, and followed on the heels of Sichuan
Expressway's <601107.SS><0107.HK> runaway success on Monday.
"Such strong debuts of new listings will become a great
boost for forthcoming IPOs, though worries have also
strengthened of overall high valuations of the market," said
Qian Qimin, deputy head of research at Shenyin & Wanguo
Securities in Shanghai.
BBMG Corp <2009.HK>, one of China's largest building
materials manufacturers, also jumped 60 percent at its debut in
Hong Kong. [].
But the Hang Seng index <> shed 3 percent after ending
at its highest in nearly 11 months on Tuesday, and the Shanghai
Composite Index <> closed down 5 percent, its biggest
daily loss in 8 months.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei average <> edged up 0.3 percent
to its highest close in seven weeks, a day after snapping its
longest string of consecutive gains since 1988.
"It's natural that the market takes a breather due to
investor fatigue after a nine-day winning streak and caution
before earnings reports," said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, manager at
SMBC Friend Securities.
"But foreign investors appear to have a bullish view on the
outlook for the stock markets and that's providing support to
blue-chip stocks and a solid floor for the Nikkei."
Japan's market was buoyed by high-tech shares such as Tokyo
Electron <8035.T>. After the bell Nomura Holdings Inc <8604.T>,
its largest brokerage, posted its first profit in six quarters,
and Toshiba Corp <6502.T> announced a smaller-than-expected
quarterly operating loss thanks to solid chip prices.
Australian shares <> shed 0.6 percent, with top
investment bank Macquarie Group <MQG.AX> up on relief that its
operations were improving. Shares in BHP Billiton <BHP.AX>,
which agreed with some customers to take a 33 percent price cut
for contracted iron ore shipments, fell 1.5 percent.
[]
The Dow Jones industrial average <> closed down 0.13
percent at 9,096.72 on Tuesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> fell 0.26 percent but the Nasdaq Composite Index <>
rose 0.39 percent.
Weak U.S. consumer confidence in the previous session
weighed on Shanghai copper <SCFc3> and on oil, which slid below
$67 a barrel <CLc1> and extended losses from Tuesday when
industry data showed a larger-than-expected rise in crude
inventories last week. []
Gold made little headway after a sharp drop to its lowest
in nearly two weeks on Tuesday. Spot gold <XAU=> stood at
$935.60 an ounce, up from the low of $933.70 the previous day.
In the currency markets, the dollar edged up from this
year's trough against a basket of currencies <.DXY> set on
Tuesday, while the euro eased 0.3 percent to $1.4122 <EUR=>,
slipping from this week's eight-week high.
The yen edged up, capitalising on profit-taking in higher
yielding currencies, to standing at 94.13 yen per dollar
<JPY=>. []
Shorter-dated U.S. Treasury debt prices firmed after
falling on Tuesday following weak results at a record $42
billion sale of two-year notes.
The auction cast doubt on investor appetite for U.S.
government debt and made the market nervous about big auctions
of five-year notes on Wednesday and seven-year notes on
Thursday.
(Editing by Kazunori Takada)
