GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares slide, Aussie dlr hit by rate talk

                                
 * Asian shares fall as U.S. consumer confidence weighs
                                
 * Aussie dlr at 2-wk low as mkt trims bets on large rate
rise
                                
 * Won, rupiah sold as investors curb exposure to risky
assets
                                
 * U.S. equity futures down 0.1 pct
                                
 By Susan Fenton
                                
 HONG KONG, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Asian shares fell on
Wednesday after a dip in U.S. consumer confidence revived
worries about the pace of economic recovery, while the
Australian dollar hit a two-week low as inflation data pared
bets on an aggressive rate rise.
                                
 U.S. equity futures <SPc1> were down 0.1 percent and
European shares were also set to dip, with financial
spreadbetters expecting markets in London <.FTSE>, Frankfurt
<.GDAXI> and Paris <.FCHI> to open between 0.3 and 0.6 percent
lower [ID:nLS598537]
                                
 The Conference Board's weaker-than-expected U.S. consumer
confidence index for October raised concern about the U.S.
earnings potential of Asian companies, driving shares lower
across the region. [ID:nN27241974]
                                
 "The U.S. consumer confidence news highlighted worries
about the U.S. economic recovery in the coming months," a
dealer at a Japanese bank in Tokyo, said. "With this view,
investors are prone to cut their bets on assets such as stocks,
commodities and high-yielding currencies."
                                
  Japan's Nikkei index <.N225> fell 1.4 percent as a
government official warned the economy must try to avoid
hitting a second bottom [ID:nTKX006495] and Japanese retail
sales in September fell for a 13th month. [ID:nT313616]
                                
 Shares in Honda Motor Co <7267.T>, however, surged 3.3
percent after the world's seventh-biggest carmaker surprised by
nearly tripling its annual profit forecasts on Tuesday.
[ID:nT324227]
                                
 The Australian dollar <AUD=> first edged up, but later
retreated, after last quarter's inflation topped forecasts, yet
was not seen as alarming enough to warrant a 50 basis point
rate rise at a central bank meeting on Nov. 3. [ID:nSYD541217]
                                
 "This number's just not bad enough to trigger anything
other than a quarter point rate rise," said Stephen Walters,
chief economist at JP Morgan in Australia.
                                
 The Australian dollar rose to as high as $0.9208
immediately after the inflation data but then fell to a
two-week low of $0.9072.
                                
 SHIPBUILDERS HIT
                                
 Worries about U.S. consumer confidence encouraged a shift
out of riskier currencies including the Korean won <KRW=>. It
hit a one-month low at 1,195.5 per dollar, brushing off news
that South Korea's balance of payments surplus in September
soared nearly 60 percent to a near five-year high. [nSEO240349]
                                
 Indonesia's central bank intervened to prop up the rupiah
<IDR=> as it hit a one-month low at 9,650 to the dollar.
                                
 The head of China's national pension fund said on Wednesday
that the dollar-dominated global monetary system would
gradually shift to a system led by the dollar, euro and Asian
currencies including the Chinese yuan <CNY=CFXS>.
[ID:nSHA282844]
                                
 The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> was down 2 percent while the Thomson Reuters
index of regional shares <.TRXFLDAXPU> was 1.4 percent lower.
                                
 Shares in Korea <.KS11> slumped 2.4 percent as investors
became nervous ahead of key earnings and economic data this
week.
                                
 Samsung Electronics <005930.KS>, the world's biggest memory
chip maker, issued a strong mid-term outlook but its shares
fell 3 percent in the market slide. [ID:nSEO322490]
                                
 Shipbuilders also suffered after the Financial Times
reported that leading German container shipper Peter Dohle
Schiffahrts was seeking aid from the German government. That
sent shares in Hyundai Heavy Industries <009540.KS>, the
world's biggest shipbuilder, down 4.5 percent.
                                
 Investor sentiment across Asia was cautious amid concern
about the pace of recovery in the United States although a
survey by The Nielsen Company on Wednesday showed U.S. consumer
confidence has improved for the first time since early 2007.
[ID:nHKG305163]
                                
 U.S. durable goods data, due later on Wednesday, will give
further clues on the state of U.S. consumption.
                                
 In Hong Kong, shares of casino operator Wynn Macau
<1128.HK> plunged 8.3 percent, tracking a 10 percent dive in
shares of its U.S. parent Wynn Resorts <WYNN.O> in U.S. trade,
after a downbeat outlook from the company. [ID:nN23120887]
                                
 The oil price <CLc1> stabilised at around $79.40 a barrel
after rising overnight on industry data showing a large
draw-down in U.S. crude inventories last week.
                                
 Japanese government bonds inched up with futures coming off
a two-month low after strong demand for new U.S. two-year notes
lifted U.S. Treasuries.
                                
 December JGB 10-year futures <JP2YTN=JBTC> climbed 0.04
point to 137.90 after hitting a two-month low of 138.82 on
Tuesday.
 (Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko in TOKYO and the SYDNEY
newsroom; editing by Tomasz Janowski)