* JPMorgan loan losses highlight consumer fears
* U.S. consumers remain wary in face of high unemployment
* Euro weighed down by Greece deficit woes
* Chinese banks spooked by regulator's lending caution
(Refiles to delete erroneous word in paragraph 2)
(Repeats to more subscribers)
By Umesh Desai
HONG KONG, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Most Asian stocks fell on
Monday following No 2 U.S. bank JPMorgan's heavy losses on
mortgage and credit card loans which cast doubt on consumer
demand in the region's largest export market.
But European shares are seen recouping Friday's losses,
with the DJ Euro Stoxx <STXEc1> futures rising 0.5 percent.
The U.S. dollar and the yen fell after strengthening
initially when investors unwound riskier trades. The euro
remained under pressure, hurt by concerns about fiscal problems
buffeting Greece, which has seen its budget deficit balloon and
its credit ratings cut.
Euro zone finance ministers had little patience left for
Greece after it misled them about the size of its deficit and
would be ready to impose sanctions on Athens if needed, euro
zone sources said. []
Sentiment in Asia remained cautious.
"We are quite cautious still considering the environment we
are in -- some companies are doing better but the reality is it
is a tough environment," said Alex Boggis, fund manager at
Aberdeen Asset Management, which oversees about $240 billion.
"The hard work is still to be done in terms of exporters
not really kicking in and Asia still being geared to exports.
It takes a long time to convert exports into consumption."
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS>, which fell as much as 0.8 percent, was down
0.1 percent.
The Thomson Reuters index of regional shares <.TRXFLDAXPU>
was down 0.23 percent.
U.S. stocks fell around 1 percent on Friday as JPMorgan's
<JPM.N> results raised concerns about profits at banks and on
data showing American consumer sentiment was weaker than
expected, which followed a poor retail sales report earlier in
the week. [] U.S. markets will be closed on Monday for the
Martin Luther King day holiday.
Japan's Nikkei average fell 1.2 percent, coming off a
15-month high struck last week, with bank shares leading
declines over fears the market's recent rally was over done.
Hong Kong <> shares were under pressure as the property
and banking sector lead the decline. Although Chinese banking
shares were weak in the mainland market, the Shanghai benchmark
<> ended up 0.4 percent on gains in airline stocks.
Fears that Beijing is moving to curb credit growth to avoid
inflation and economic overheating rattled shares in China and
the rest of Asia last week. []
Traders say a raft of Chinese data this week, ranging from
fourth-quarter gross domestic product to December retail sales
and industrial production could give clues on whether domestic
consumption in China is helping offset persistent weakness in
U.S. demand and if monetary policy tightening is around the
corner.
"It will be important to see if China is beginning to
experience inflation and whether there will be any tightening,"
said Andrew Sullivan, a sales trader with broker MainFirst
Securities in Hong Kong.
"If there isn't then obviously it is happy days. If there
is -- it will put further strain on market valuations."
WORRIES OVER GREECE SPARK EXITS FROM RISKY TRADES
The euro slid to a four-month low against sterling as the
British currency gained ground on the dollar and the yen
following a rise in UK house prices and as the euro continued
to be weighed down by concerns about Greece's fiscal woes.
The euro fell as far as 88.03 pence <EURGBP=D4>, its lowest
since mid-September, down 0.5 percent on the day.
The U.S. dollar and the yen were firm while currencies
leveraged to global growth like the Australian dollar ran into
a bout of profit-taking after an impressive run up since the
start of the new year.
Investors will also be closely watching more U.S. earnings
this week, with the financial sector in focus, traders said.
Bank of America <BAC.N> and Morgan Stanley <MS.N> should
report on Wednesday and Goldman Sachs <GS.N> is expected on
Thursday. Tech companies such as IBM <IBM.N> and Google Inc
<GOOG.0> are also expected this week. [] []
Oil prices tumbled, extending losses for a sixth session to
below $78 a barrel, after the International Energy Agency cut
its view on 2010 global oil demand growth.
(Additional reporting by Aiko Hayashi in TOKYO)
(Editing by Kazunori Takada)
