* Asia stocks ex-Japan plumb four-week lows
* China tightening worries, euro zone debt woes persist
* Australia among biggest decliners in Asia, miners
pressured
(Updates with European opening)
By Ian Chua
SYDNEY, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Investors gave stocks a wide
berth on Wednesday on renewed worries China may hike interest
rates this week and after top level meetings in Europe failed
to produce a clear solution to tackle Ireland's debt crisis.
Dublin has so far resisted pressure to request aid,
although euro zone ministers have agreed to send a joint
European-IMF mission to Ireland that could prepare the way for
a bailout to prevent its debt crisis spreading to other
countries.
Asian stocks excluding Japan dropped to their lowest level
in four weeks, while European bourses opened lower with the
FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares <> down 0.2
percent.
The rally in the dollar, meanwhile, briefly paused after
two top Federal Reserve officials were reported by the Wall
Street Journal as saying the central bank may need to go beyond
its latest plan to pump $600 billion into the U.S. economy.
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Description of EU safety net: []
How Ireland might tap funds: []
Euro zone debt struggles: http://r.reuters.com/hyb65p
Multimedia coverage on Euro Zone crisis on Top News:
http://r.reuters.com/hus75h
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The MSCI Asia stock index excluding Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS>
fell 1.5 percent to its lowest level since Oct. 20, on track to
close lower for an eighth straight session.
Among the worst performers, Australian shares <> slid
1.6 percent as BHP Billiton <BHP.AX> and Rio Tinto <RIO.AX>
both suffered falls of more than 2 percent.
Investors worry that China, Australia's largest export
market, is preparing more aggressive steps to tame inflation
and thus risk slower growth.
CHINA INFLATION
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said his government was
preparing steps to tame price rises, feeding into market
expectations that China will intensify tightening policies.
There is talk that it may do so as soon as Friday.
[]
"China wants to send a message to everybody that this time
they are serious in fighting inflation, reducing excess
liquidity and controlling speculative inflows," said Danny Yan,
who helps manage more than $400 million at Tai Fook Asset
Management.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index <> shed 2.2 percent, while
Chinese shares <> fell 1.9 percent. Several other markets
in Asia were closed for holidays, including Singapore,
Indonesia, Malaysia and India.
Japan's Nikkei average <>, however, eked out a small
gain as shares in some exporters, such as car makers, benefited
from the yen's softness against the dollar.
The dollar hit a six-week high of 83.59 yen <JPY=> in New
York, and was last at 83.44, while the euro, which fell as low
as $1.3446 overnight, edged up to $1.3500 <EUR=>.
Worries about further policy moves in China also knocked
commodity prices lower. Shanghai copper and zinc futures fell
by their daily limit, chasing losses of 5 to 8.5 percent in
London in the previous session.
"We know it's coming, but we don't know when. The
uncertainty is a risk-appetite killer, but like Rumsfeld once
said, 'it's a known unknown'," a trader in Hong Kong said,
referring to comments by former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange <CMCU3>
fell 1.1 percent to $8,060 a tonne, down about 10 percent from
a record high of $8,966 set on Nov. 11.
Spot gold <XAU=> was a touch lower on the day at $1,335.00
an ounce, having shed 2 percent the previous day to a two-week
low, while crude oil <CLc1> slipped 0.5 percent to $81.95 a
barrel, still shaky after Tuesday's 3 percent fall.
U.S. Treasuries held on to most of the gains made on
Tuesday, with the 10-year note yield <US10YT=RR> flat at 2.84
percent, off a 3-1/2-month high near 3 percent set on Monday.
(Additional reporting by Koh Gui Qing in Sydney, Jun Ebias in
Hong Kong, Farah Master in Shanghai and Nicholas Trevethan in
Singapore; Editing by Alex Richardson)
