SINGAPORE (Reuters)
Asian stocks fell on Monday, following losses on Wall Street in the previous session after a profit warning from Dell Inc., the world's top computer maker, raised concern about the outlook for technology companies.
Gold traded near a three-week low, oil hovered above $74 per barrel while the dollar recovered some ground after losses on Friday.
Japan's Nikkei stock average lost 1.5 percent to 14,596.69 by midday, dragged lower by microchip equipment maker Tokyo Electron. South Korea's benchmark KOSPI shed 1.6 percent while MSCI's index of shares of the biggest Asian companies outside Japan dropped 1.2 percent.
"There's not enough confidence in a recovery in earnings in the tech sector to give it good momentum, and that's why shares are being hit," said Jason Hwang, a strategist at Woori Investment and Securities.
Spot gold traded near Friday's three-week low of $615.50 an ounce. Bullion slumped 2 per cent on Friday due to waning inflation concerns. The weakness in gold and other metals dragged Asian resource stocks lower and pulled Australia's resource-rich S&P/ASX 200 Index <.AXJO> down by 1.1 percent.
United States crude oil futures eased to just above $74 a barrel, responding to diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrillas that has cost more than 400 lives.
The dollar recovered some ground against the yen and the euro, having slumped on Friday on growing expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve could pause in its two-year monetary tightening campaign.
The dollar rose as high as 116.73 yen, from about 116.13 in late New York trade on Friday. The euro fell as low as $1.2638 from $1.2694 late on Friday.
Japanese government bond prices dipped as investors reasoned yields had fallen too low. The yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB rose to 1.825 percent from Friday's 1.815 percent after hitting a one-month low of 1.810 on Thursday.
"It's hard for JGBs to gain at the moment as bond yields have come down near the lower end of their short-term ranges," said Tatsuo Ichikawa, chief bond strategist at ABN AMRO.
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