By Alex Richardson
SINGAPORE, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Asian stocks were mostly
easier on Wednesday as fears that U.S. lawmakers will stall a
proposed $700 billion bailout of the battered financial sector
haunted investors and a firmer yen hurt Japanese exporters.
But Australian bank shares gained and U.S. Treasury yields
rose after Warren Buffet surprised the market with a $5 billion
investment in Goldman Sachs <GS.N>.
Japan's third-biggest bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group
(SMFG) <8316.T> also planned to invest several billion dollars
in Goldman, according to the Kyodo news agency, though SMFG
said it had no plans to do so for now. SMFG shares added 2.7
percent.
Crude oil futures were a little higher, paring Tuesday's
losses of nearly $3 a barrel, ahead of U.S. government
inventory data expected to show declines in crude and gasoline
stocks.
Japan's Nikkei <> fell 1.4 percent, with car maker
Honda <7267.T> down 3.4 percent and cameras and copiers firm
Canon <7751.T> losing 4.1 percent. Japanese markets had been
closed for a holiday on Tuesday, when Asian markets mostly
fell.
"We now have a delicate situation about whether the U.S.
Congress will approve the bailout plan and this is weighing on
the market," said Takahiko Murai, general manager of equities
at Nozomi Securities.
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS>, which slumped to a 2-year low last week, was
down 0.4 percent at 0130 GMT. Korean shares <> were flat.
U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrial
average <> and S&P 500 <.SPX> both losing around 1.5
percent, amid congressional wrangling over Treasury Secretary
Henry Paulson's plan to buy up toxic mortgage debt on financial
institutions' balance sheets in an effort to resolve the root
cause of the financial crisis.
But news that Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway <BRKa.N> <BRKb.N>
was investing in Wall Street's most powerful firm sent U.S.
index futures <SPc1> surging in extended trading.
"It's clearly a positive when Warren Buffett sees value in
a company," said Richard Sichel, chief investment officer of
Philadelphia Trust Co.
"Buffett is so highly regarded as an intelligent value
investor, if he's putting a lot of money into a company that's
been beaten down, it sends a message to the market that maybe
not every financial company should be ignored at this point."
AUSSIE BANKS GAIN
Buffet's move also boosted Australia's financial sector,
with National Australia Bank <NAB.AX> and ANZ Banking Group
<ANZ.AX> gaining between 1.5 and 2.5 percent, as the benchmark
S&P/ASX 200 index <> rose 0.5 percent.
The yen eased a little against a number of currencies as
the Goldman news stemmed some inflows the Japanese currency had
enjoyed when Wall Street fell the previous day.
"We expected the yen to gain against its peers, drawing
support from the slip in Wall Street the previous day," said a
trader at a European bank. "However, various cross yen pairs
are being bought back in light of the Goldman news."
The dollar was little changed at 105.44 yen <JPY=> after
hitting a high of 105.90 yen. The euro advanced 0.1 percent to
154.85 yen <EURJPY=R>. The Australian dollar rose 0.2 percent
to 87.98 yen <AUDJPY=>.
Gold <XAU=> fell after the dollar bounced on Tuesday,
continuing a strong negative correlation between the greenback
and dollar-denominated commodities that has been in place for
several months.
U.S. crude for November delivery was up 17 cents at $106.78
a barrel. A Reuters poll of analysts predicted U.S. inventory
data due later would show a fall of 2 million barrels in crude
stocks.
Ten-year U.S. Treasury notes <US10YT=RR> fell 11/32 in
price in early Asian trade, driving yields up to 3.845 percent,
from 3.803 percent late in New York on Tuesday.
