Asian stocks chase Wall St down, Japan GDP beats forecasts

Asian stock markets mostly fell Wednesday after a two-day rally and strong US data that fuelled talk of an interest rate rise, while Tokyo swung back and forth following a better-than-forecast economic growth reading.

The world's number three economy expanded 0.4 percent in the first three months of the year, boosted by a pick-up in consumer spending, or a 1.7 percent annualised rate.

The country's benchmark Nikkei stock index spent much of the day in positive territory. But the upbeat figure was offset by fears it could allow the Bank of Japan to delay any fresh stimulus. 

Stimulus bets "may be drying up a little", Masahiro Ichikawa, a senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co. in Tokyo,told Bloomberg News.

"If the ... growth figure was a small increase, we might have seen more hopes for supportive policy, but with the data being better than expected the view now is the size of the policy package may not be that significant."

Shares ended 0.1 percent lower, with profit-taking also a factor after the market rose for six of the previous seven sessions.
The figures come days after local media reported that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to delay a sales tax rise next year over concerns it could damage the already fragile economy.

A tax rise in 2014 -- seen as key to helping pay down Japan's enormous national debt -- was blamed for ushering in a brief recession.

Most other regional markets also retreated after a sharp sell-off on Wall Street Tuesday. US traders ran for cover after news that industrial production, consumer prices and housing starts all rose in April -- fuelling speculation the Federal Reserve could raise borrowing costs as soon as next month.

- Oil extends gains -

The US central bank earlier this year said it would not raise rates again -- after December's first hike in almost a decade -- unless the world's top economy was showing signs of good health.

However, there has been talk in recent weeks that Fed policymakers would consider tightening at their June meeting, jolting investor confidence.

Worries about the possibility of higher rates, coupled with sharp losses on Wall Street's three main indexes, seeped into Asia where most stock markets fell.

Hong Kong was down 1.7 percent in the afternoon, while Sydney ended 0.7 percent lower and Shanghai gave up 1.3 percent by the close. Seoul slipped 0.6 percent and Singapore was 0.3 percent off.
On currency markets the talk of a US rate rise lifted the dollar to 109.31 yen in the morning from 109.13 yen in New York but it later eased to 109.12 yen.

The greenback seesawed as traders considered whether the Bank of Japan would stand pat on monetary easing, which tends to lead to a stronger yen.

Energy firms again rode on the coat-tails of a crude rally, which has seen both main contracts push towards the $50 mark.

Brent was up 0.1 percent at $49.31 and West Texas Intermediate gained 0.2 percent to $48.39 as wildfires in Canada forced the evacuation of workers and the closure of the operations of the country's biggest oil company.

In Tokyo automaker Suzuki slumped 15 percent at one point on reports that it may have used improper fuel-efficiency testing, the latest bad news for a car industry shaken by scandals over deadly defects and emissions cheating.

The firm managed to pare the losses slightly to end 9.4 percent lower.

- Key figures around 0700 GMT -

Tokyo: Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 16,644.69 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.3 percent at 2,807.51 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 1.7 percent percent at 19,786.48

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1282 from from $1.1313 on Tuesday

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 109.12 yen from 109.13 yen

New York - Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 17,529.98 (close) 

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 6,167.77  (close)