Asian shares fall again, dollar drifts

Asian shares fall again, dollar drifts

HONG KONG: Asian shares gave up early gains to fall again on Thursday, weighed by declines in China and Hong Kong, even after a strong lead-in from Wall Street which had also pushed the dollar to the lower end of its recent range. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last down 0.45%, while Japan's Nikkei, shed 0.47%, after hitting 31-year high it hit on Monday. "It's a bit choppy and uncertain at present, we've had a few soft days on the back of worries about global growth and then suddenly markets, at least U.S. markets, conclude 'its not that bad after all'," said Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP Capital. He added worries about inflation and supply chain issues could still weigh on shares in the coming weeks, and "of course in Asia we've got a slowdown in China." There were gains on Thursday in Australia, up 0.65%, but the Hong Kong benchmark fell 0.42% with property names continuing to drag - embattled developer China Evergrande Group fell another 8% Chinese blue chips lost 0.66%, a day after economic data missed expectations. U.S. stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, were flat. Overnight U.S. stocks closed higher, as