Asian markets inch up; Wall Street ends lower

Asian shares inched higher in early trade on Wednesday, while the yen may head lower as some investors said the position unwinding due to risk aversion would be shortlived.

Crude oil slipped, extending two days of losses after Goldman Sachs urged investors to book profits, warning for a second time in as many days of an increased risk of price reversal .

Tokyo's Nikkei rose 0.4 percent while South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.2 percent, led by exporters, although resource-related stocks weakened across Asia , taking a cue from the widespread decline in commodity prices overnight.

The yen slipped 0.4 percent against the dollar as some analysts said its gains this week were because of stretched positioning and may be an opportunity to extend their short positions.

Brent crude for May was down 0.1 percent at $120.77 a barrel, extending a $3 plunge overnight. The May Brent contract expires on Thursday. U.S. May crude fell 0.1 percent to $106.12.

US stocks dropped on on worries falling oil prices could set off a reversal in the high-flying energy sector, while Alcoa's leaner-than-expected revenue disappointed.

Energy stocks led the S&P 500's losses, with the S&P Energy Index down 3 percent. Strategists were already worried the rally in energy stocks may have gone too far ahead of earnings, and a drop in oil prices could spark an extended sell-off.

Signalling the start of the US first-quarter earnings period, Alcoa Inc late Monday reported revenue that missed forecasts. Its profit, however, topped consensus expectations. Alcoa's stock slid 6 percent to $16.70 and was the Dow's biggest percentage loser of the day.

Materials stocks in general fell in sync with declines in metals prices. Investors are worried that Japan's massive earthquake and a nuclear crisis could weaken recovery prospects in the world's third-largest economy.

The SPDR S&P Metals and Mining ETF fell 2.2 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 117.53 points, or 0.95 percent, at 12,263.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 Indexwas down 10.30 points, or 0.78 percent, at 1,314.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 26.72 points, or 0.96 percent, at 2,744.79.

The S&P Materials Index fell 1.4 percent while U.S.-traded shares of Rio Tinto fell 2.3 percent to $72.13. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc shed 3.1 percent to $53.70.

The day's slide broke some technical barriers, analysts said.

The S&P 500 fell below support at 1,320, and touched the rising 20-day moving average at about 1,310, according to Larry McMillan, president of McMillan Analysis Corp. in Morristown, New Jersey.

Composite volume was below average on the NYSE, Amex and Nasdaq, with 7.53 billion shares changing hands, compared with last year's daily average of 8.47 billion.

Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by about 11 to 4 and on the Nasdaq by about 10 to 3.

Asia stocks rise on Japan progress; yen softer

Japanese stocks jumped nearly 4% on Tuesday amid reports of progress in containing radiation from an earthquake-damaged nuclear plant, and the yen was broadly softer on the possibility of further intervention by major central banks.

Shares elsewhere in Asia posted modest gains, after bouncing on Monday when Tokyo markets were closed for a holiday.

US stocks rose around 1.5% on Monday, buoyed by AT&T's move to buy Deutsche Telecom.

Oil prices were steady, following a 1% rise in the previous session as widening unrest in the Middle East intensified fears of supply disruptions.

Tokyo's Nikkei share average was up 3.9% in early trade, while Nikkei futures on the Osaka Stock Exchange leapt 3.4%.

The Nikkei remained down around 7% on its close on March 11, the day northeastern Japan was struck by a massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that left at least 21,000 people dead or missing and crippled a nuclear power plant.

Benchmark 10-year Japanese Government Bond futures fell 0.28 point to 139.46.

The yen traded around 81.20 to the dollar and eased against the euro to around 115.45.

Last week, expectations of massive repatriations to pay for quake reconstruction drove the Japanese currency to a record 76.25 to the dollar before a rare intervention by the Group of Seven rich nations on Friday to curb its appreciation.

US crude oil futures edged up 8 cents to USD 102.41 a barrel and Brent crude rose the same amount to USD 115.04.

www.moneycontrol.com

US markets end lower, Dow down 157 pts

Wall Street capped its worst week in seven years
with a late sell off as traders briefly celebrated the house's approval of the Wall
Street bailout bill and then sold their positions ahead of the weekend. Anxiety
in fact hitting the markets with the VIX topping 45.

Stocks fell even after US President Bush signed the bailout package. Unemployment
report showed 1,59,000 people lost their jobs in Sep. Construction,
manufacturing & retail shed maximum jobs while healthcare & govt added workers.

In commodity markets crude was little changed amid skepticism that the bailout package will keep the US from falling into a recession, curbing demand.

Dow Jones dropped 157 points at 10325.38, S&P
down 15.05 points at 1099.15 and Nasdaq slid 29.33 points to 1947.39.

A look at how the Indian ADRs performed:

Name Infosys Sify Rediff.com India Satyam Wipro ICICI Bank HDFC Bank MTNL Tata Comm Dr Reddy's Lab Tata Motors Patni Computer Sterlite Ind

Symbol INFY SIFY REDF SAY WIT IBN HDB MTE TCL RDY TTM PTI SLT

Price 29.58 1.89 3.85 15.04 9.09 22.79 86.00 3.92 19.48 10.80 7.13 7.45 7.64

Change -1.00 0.07 -0.15 -0.56 0.16 -1.71 -0.50 -0.02 -1.66 -0.21 -0.13 -0.30 -0.57

Change% -3.27% 3.85% -3.75% -3.59% 1.79% -6.98% -0.58% -0.76% -7.85% -1.91% -1.79% -3.87% -6.94%

Volume 3,733,951 54,811 44,186 1,648,255 620,307 3,599,310 315,579 54,338 207,896 182,935 803,551 30,873 1,511,552

High 31.59 1.92 4.04 16.94 9.98 23.50 91.48 4.18 20.83 11.55 7.48 7.73 8.40

Low 29.56 1.76 3.82 15.01 8.70 22.05 83.11 3.90 18.62 10.80 7.01 7.37 7.53