Asian stocks fall after drop in oil prices

TOKYO - Shares fell in Asia on Wednesday, tracking modest losses overnight on Wall Street, where the biggest drop in crude oil prices since October weighed on oil producers and other energy stocks. Japan's Nikkei 225 index slumped 0.9 per cent after a lacklustre GDP report for July-September.

KEEPING SCORE: The Nikkei 225 was at 22,169.31, as manufacturers' shares were hurt by a stronger yen. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.7 per cent to 28,956.00 and the Shanghai Composite index also lost 0.7 per cent to 3,405.18. Australia's S&P ASX 200 fell 0.4 per cent to 5,945.50 and the Kospi of South Korea declined 0.3 per cent to 2,519.26. Taiwan fell and shares in Southeast Asia were mostly lower.

JAPAN DATA: Japan's economy expanded at a 1.4 per cent annualized rate in July-September in the seventh straight quarter of growth for the world's third-largest economy. The economy is in its longest period of expansion since 2001. But growth slowed from a 2.6 per cent annualized rate of growth in April-June, the Cabinet Office reported Wednesday. Strong exports are helping offset relatively weak household demand. Private consumption fell 0.5 per cent in July-September, the first such decline in seven quarters, the report said.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude sank 58 cents to $55.12 per barrel, or 1.04 per cent, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell $1.06, or 1.9 per cent, on Tuesday to settle at $55.70 per barrel, the biggest single-day decline since October. Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed 71 cents to $61.50 per barrel. It declined 95 cents, or 1.5 per cent, to close at $62.21 a barrel in London.

ANALYST'S VIEWPOINT: "There's this perception that there's a lot of supply waiting in the wings and as prices have moved higher that's made the marginal producer want to come out and just find more oil," said Eric Freedman, chief investment officer of U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

WALL STREET: Energy companies led U.S. stocks modestly lower Tuesday, erasing small gains made a day earlier. Investors also are eyeing a vote by the U.S. House of Representatives on its version of a major tax bill this week. Expectations that the tax overhaul will sharply lower corporate taxes have helped lift share prices this year. The Standard & Poor's 500 index 0.2 per cent to 2,578.87. The Dow Jones industrial average 0.1 per cent to 23,409.47 and the Nasdaq composite slid 0.3 per cent to 6,737.87. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks also gave up 0.3 per cent, to 1,471.26.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 113.21 yen from 113.43 yen on Tuesday. The euro weakened to $1.1793 from $1.1796.

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