(Repeats to additional subscribers with no change to text)
By Rafael Nam
HONG KONG, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Most Asian shares fell on
Friday as concerns over the global economy and caution ahead of
a Bank of Japan rate decision halted a powerful three-day
rally, sending safer havens such as regional bonds and the yen
higher.
Regional shares were set to end October as their worst
month on record -- worse even than during the Asian financial
crisis a decade ago -- as global economies buckle under the
weight of the biggest financial crisis since the Great
Depression.
Policy makers have responded by cutting interest rates and
injecting liquidity, but investors fear the measures may only
have a temporary effect in what could be a severe and
long-lasting global recession.
Oil prices dropped more than $1 a barrel on Friday after
data showed the U.S. economy suffered its sharpest contraction
in seven years in the third quarter, as consumers cut spending
and businesses reduced investment. []
Though the decline was less than expected, it bodes ill for
export-dependent Asian economies, analysts said.
"It was still weak and the consumption contribution fell
sharply suggesting bad news for Asian exports and regional
growth going forward, especially as the U.S. economy is set to
register even bigger declines over coming quarters," Calyon
analysts wrote in a note to clients about the U.S. economic
growth data.
The MSCI index of Asian stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> was down 1.1 percent at 0250 GMT, stemming a 19
percent rise over the past three sessions, a gain powerful
enough to put the index on course for its biggest weekly gain
on record.
But the index was still down some 25 percent for the month,
highlighting the severe falls seen throughout Asia. Japan's
Nikkei <> this month hit a 26-year low.
Nervousness about whether the Bank of Japan will follow the
U.S. Federal Reserve and other regional central banks in
cutting interest rates prevailed, sending the Nikkei down 2.7
percent.
Concerns about global growth and profit-taking sent other
indexes lower, with Hong Kong <> down 3.9 percent, while
Shanghai <> and Sydney <> shed just over 1 percent.
Commodities, which are sensitive to global demand, have
also been routed this month. U.S. crude futures <CLc1> slumped
$1.4 to $64.55 a barrel, less than half the record near $150 it
had hit in July.
Platinum <XPT=> dropped to $783 an ounce, down from the
notional New York close of $817. The metal had hit a life-time
high of $2,290 in March.
But the yen rose against the euro and the dollar, supported
as investors unwind investments in risky assets that had been
funded by borrowing the low-yielding yen.
The dollar eased 0.2 percent against the yen to 98.40 yen
<JPY=>, while the euro fell 1.1 percent against the yen to
125.87 yen <EURJPY=R>.
Other safe-haven assets gained as well, with Japanese
government December futures <2JGBv1> up 0.40 point to 138.31.
(Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)
