* Stocks head for worst monthly fall since January 2009
* BHP Billiton falls over 3 pct on soft commodities
* Strong Samsung results outweighed by tech sector worries
* Nikkei falls to 6-wk closing low on earnings woes, yen
* Euro losses mount on worries about Greece's debt
By Umesh Desai
HONG KONG, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Stocks in Asia tumbled on
Friday, hurt by weak technology and resources shares and fresh
worries about Greece's debt levels, which dragged the euro to a
six-month low against the dollar.
However, leading European shares <> were expected to
inch higher, halting the market's worst sell-off in a year,
despite mounting worries about weak euro zone members.
U.S. stock futures <SPc1> pointed to a slightly weaker open
after key Wall Street indexes fell by up to 1.9 percent
overnight as poor earnings and outlooks from Motorola <MOT.N>
and Qualcomm <QCOM.O> dented optimism in the tech sector. []
A massive recall of millions of vehicles by the world's top
automaker Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> added to concerns about
corporate earnings, while falling commodity prices hurt miners
such as BHP Billiton Ltd <BHP.AX>.
Samsung Electronics <005930.KS>, the world's top maker of
memory chips and LCD screens, failed to lift the gloom despite
its forecast-beating earnings as Asian shares head for their
worst monthly decline since January 2009.
Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan as measured by MSCI
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> fell 2 percent to a 2-month low, with the
materials index down 3.4 percent and the technology index off
1.8 percent.
Concerns over public finances in Greece and Portugal pulled
the euro <EUR=> down to a six-month low against the dollar and
a nine-month low versus the yen, a trend which has gained
momentum as investors cut risky trades which had been funded by
borrowing in the yen and dollar. []
Investors have also been nagged this week by fears that the
global economic recovery may be losing momentum, China's steps
to cool its surging economy and political and regulatory
wrangling in Washington.
"There is a general adjustment going on in risk appetite
and risk sensitivity," said Peter Redward, head of Emerging
Asia Research, Barclays Capital.
But he said the recent drop has been orderly and the
sell-off has been notable because of the absence of panic.
"It shows there hasn't been a lot of large option-related,
speculative position building. There isn't a lot of gamma
floating around in terms of equities or fx," he added,
referring to derivatives instruments which when triggered can
lead to accelerated selling.
According to data from fund tracker EPFR Global, emerging
markets equity funds saw their first week of net outflows in
the period ended Jan. 27 after 11 weeks of inflows as investors
pared back their exposure amid fears of slowing growth in
China, where authorities are reining in bank lending.
[]
U.S. equity funds saw their biggest weekly outflow since
late June while European equity finds suffered net redemptions
for the third week in five, the data showed. But bond funds saw
inflows, particularly emerging market local
currency-denominated bonds.
The recent strength of the yen currency also hammered
Japanese stocks, which received a further setback after Toyota
announced it would extend to Europe and China a recall of
millions of vehicles due to faulty accelerator pedals and floor
mats. []
Japan's Nikkei average <> fell 2 percent to a six-week
closing low, hurt by negative earnings surprise from chip
equipment maker Advantest Corp <6857.T> which came after Nippon
Steel Corp's <5401.T> warned of a first annual net loss in
seven years. Advantest shares tumbled more than 10 percent.
Toyota fell 2 percent, bringing its losses this week to
around 14 percent.
But analysts said broader market selling appeared to be
largely driven by short-term investors, and funds with a
longer-term horizon remained upbeat on the region's
fundamentals.
"Some markets are quite oversold at the moment -- the 12
month fundamentals for economies and earning are likely to be
reasonably good," said Khiem Do, head of the Asia multi-asset
group at Baring Asset Management, which oversees $50 billion.
"Prices are getting cheaper as a result of the liquidation
of trading position. Our view is positive over next 6-12
months."
CURRENCIES
Currencies linked to global growth such as the Australian
dollar <AUD=D4> and the New Zealand dollar <NZD=> fell to
multi-week lows as investors moved out of higher-risk assets
and on caution ahead of U.S. fourth-quarter GDP data to be
released later on Friday at 1330 GMT.
Even though data on Thursday showed U.S. durable goods
orders rose and jobless claims fell in the world's largest
economy, analysts are wary it is not a strong recovery.
Mixed economic data from the world's other leading
economies also continues to keep investors cautious.
After Japan's better-than-expected export growth earlier
this week, data released on Friday showed the economy was in
the grips of deflation with core consumer prices marking their
tenth straight month of decline. []
In commodities markets, crude oil <CLc1> looked set for a
possible fourth day of losses sparked by forecasts of tepid oil
demand in rich industrialised nations. U.S. crude futures eased
20 cents to $73.44 a barrel.
A firm dollar and concern over the pace and scope of credit
tightening in China drove Shanghai copper <SCFc3> down 3.5
percent, following a drop in London prices in the previous
session.
(Editing by Kim Coghill)
