* Profit taking in consumer stocks weigh on Asia ex Japan
index
* US dollar faces formidable chart resistance as it
marches upward
* Australia dollar slides after RBA gets dovish
By Kevin Plumberg
HONG KONG, Nov 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar steadied on
Friday, as traders girded for a break above tough chart
obstacles on Europe's fiscal problems, while the looming year
end kept many equity investors eager to take profits, weighing
on Asian stock markets.
The Australian dollar slid after the head of the country's
central bank said interest rates were about right for the near
term, extinguishing speculation the currency's yield advantage
would get a policy boost in the next few months.
Caution ruled in financial markets, with thinning volumes
driving more stock investors to take profits in the year's
winning sectors in Asia, such as consumer discretionary
spending, and go to the sidelines.
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan
slipped 0.3 percent , weighed down the most by
a 0.8 percent fall in the consumer discretionary sector.
Powered by the view that the hunger of Asia's consumers
for big-ticket items, such as cars and appliances will keep
growing, this sector is still up 28 percent so far this year
, making it by and far the best performer.
Japan's Nikkei share average was barely changed on
the day, with strength in larger exporter shares offset by
weakness in retailers and industrial stocks.
The Nikkei's 9.5 percent rise in November, driven in part
by a weakening in the yen, is on course to be the biggest
monthly gain since March.
Correspondingly, the U.S. dollar's 4.3 percent rise
against the yen is also the steepest single-month advance
since March.
Government bonds, in turn, sold off, with 10-year futures
down 2.4 points in November, the biggest monthly decline since
April 2008.
The December contract was down 0.3 point <2JGBv1> at its
lowest since June 23, ahead of new supply of 10-year debt next
week. The flows across the yield curve have been erratic, and
dealers are keeping watch of cash yields of mid-maturity bonds
to see if they follow the 10-years higher, which would trigger
more bullish bets to be folded.
The U.S. dollar nudged up, though mainly because of
weakness in other currencies.
The dollar index, a trade-weighted measure against six
other major currencies, edged up 0.1 percent to 79.85 .
A major chart obstacle lies at 80.05, a level which served as
support in April and August.
In the absence of fresh economic news, a clear break above
that level will be a medium-term bullish signal for the
dollar, especially if the index closes the week above 79.73,
the 200-week moving average.
The Australian dollar was down 0.5 percent to US$0.9750
after Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens
said policy was appropriate for now, suggesting the central
bank was in no hurry to tighten rates.
He later said it was not unreasonable for investors to
price in a rate hike in the middle of 2011, a comfort to
longer-term investors in the Australian dollar but no solace
for short-term bulls who had hoped for a near-term push to
parity. [] []
(Additional reporting by IFR Analyst Takahiro Okamoto in
TOKYO and Reuters FX Analyst Krishna Kumar in SYDNEY; Editing
by Tomasz Janowski)
