Asia shares dragged lower by Japan

11:37 • 01.04.16
Economy

A rout in Japanese shares led Asian markets lower on Friday as a gloomy suite of surveys on Japanese manufacturing sparked heavy fund selling and overshadowed upbeat news from China's vast factory sector, Reuters reported.

A renewed slip in oil prices added to the cautious mood, while the dollar remained on the defensive ahead of the always-pivotal US payrolls report.

Spread betting firm IG also predicted opening losses of between 0.6 and 0.7 percent for the FTSE 100 .FTSE, DAX .GDAXI and CAC 40 .FCHI.

Much of the damage was done by Japan's Nikkei .N225 which sank over 3 percent in its steepest daily fall since mid-February. A profit-dampening rise in the yen and selling by hedge funds for the new financial year bore some of the blame.

But most pointed the finger at a deeply disappointing survey of major manufacturers from the Bank of Japan which found sentiment at its lowest in nearly three years.

The report crystallised concerns that the BOJ's dramatic shift to negative rates was not working, and might never work.

It even outweighed positive surveys from China which showed factory activity growing for the first time in nine months and a much needed pick up in the services sector.

Not helping was Standard & Poor's decision to cut China's credit outlook to negative, saying Beijing's reform agenda was likely to proceed more slowly than expected.

Shanghai's market .SSEC fell 1 percent while Australia shed 1.6 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS lost 1.6 percent.

More factory surveys are still to come from Europe and the United States and the U.S. jobs report remains a hurdle as any sign of strength in wages might revive the risk of higher U.S. interest rates.

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