China Leads in Asian Stocks Decline

Most stocks fell in Asia as Chinese shares slipped on speculation that the country’s central bank may let the yuan strengthen to cool inflation. China’s currency touched a 17-year high against the dollar, gold climbed to a record and shares in Russia rose.

According to Bloomberg report, declines by technology and materials stocks were offset by gains in automakers and industrial shares leaving the MSCI Asia Pacific Index unchanged at 138.82 even as six stocks retreated for every five that advanced. The Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.5 percent, while the yuan gained 0.2 percent to 6.5067. Gold increased to $1,512.47 an ounce, before trading at $1,506.85   in London. Russia’s Micex jumped 0.8 percent.

More rapid appreciation of the yuan may be a tool for curbing prices, Wang Yong, a professor at the People’s Bank of China’s training center in the city of Zhengzhou, wrote in a commentary published in Friday’s Securities Times newspaper. Stocks in Asia pared declines after Renesas Electronics Corp. (6723), a Japanese chipmaker, said it will restart operations at a plant damaged by the quake. Most markets in Europe and the Americas were closed today for Good Friday.

“It’s a difficult environment for investors to take a proactive stance right now,” said Yoshinori Nagano, a senior strategist in Tokyo at Daiwa Asset Management Co., which oversees about $104 billion. “There are still a lot of uncertainties for the global economy.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific gauge advanced 2.2 percent this week. Samsung Electronics Co. slid 2.6 percent Friday. The memory-chip producer said it sued Apple Inc. claiming patent infringement, a week after the iPhone maker filed a complaint in U.S. federal court alleging the South Korean company copied its products.

Renesas Electronics advanced 1.4 percent after the chipmaker that supplies Japan’s carmakers said it plans to resume operations at its Naka plant in Ibaraki prefecture. Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), the world’s biggest carmaker, Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. gained more than 2 percen

Source : Thisday