Market Report – Asia Down from 3 Month Highs

In today’s market report… Tokyo stocks led falls in Asian share markets Wednesday. The yen climbed to an 8-month high and inched closer to a 15-year peak against the dollar.

A stronger yen translates into less overseas earnings for exporters.

The dollar fell after weak consumer spending and income reports were added to a string of mostly lackluster data on the health of the U.S. economy.

Some regional investors stayed sidelined, ahead of U.S. jobs numbers due later in the week.

Nissan Motor led drops among its peers, and Toyota fell 1.6% ahead of its first quarter earnings.

The Nikkei fell over two percent.

Japan’s top carmaker reported $2.5 billion in operating profit, its strongest in over two years.

Toyota has previously said every yen gain cuts its profits by about $340 million.

Strong U.S. sales failed to lift the stock of Hyundai Motor. The top Korean automaker led the KOSPI lower, as concerns about car demand from Europe and the U.S weighed.

China’s gold miners saw volatile swings after the central bank relaxed rules for gold trading, but in the end closed higher, helping Shanghai stocks to close higher as well.

Foto: NTDTV