(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks outside Japan declined for a third day as energy companies fell and investors held back from taking riskier bets before the release of U.S. jobs data. Philippines outperformed the region as stocks rose to the highest level in nine months.
The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index fell 0.7 percent to 483.82 as of 4:54 p.m. in Hong Kong. The gauge has declined 0.6 percent this week. A gauge of energy companies was set to drop the most in more than four months as Woodside Petroleum Ltd. slid 2.7 percent in Sydney, leading losses. Crude oil has tumbled more than 7 percent this week. Equity markets in Japan and South Korea are closed for holidays.
Concerns of a oil supply glut has damped sentiment as expansion of U.S. crude production erased all gains from OPEC's deal late last year to cut output. U.S. non-farm payrolls, to be released later today, will indicate the health of the world's largest economy.
“Investors are likely taking some money off the table ahead of Friday's NFP, which could serve as a risk event after last month's drop,” Jingyi Pan, Singapore-based market strategist for IG Asia, said in an email. “Many of the Asian indices were also seen highly elevated, likely leading to cautious trading within markets.”
Summary
- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 -0.7%
- Taiwan's Taiex -0.7%
- Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index -0.8%; Galaxy Entertainment -4.6%, Fullshare +15%
- Hang Seng China Enterprises Index -1.6%, Shanghai Composite Index -0.8%
- Malaysia's KLCI Index +0.2%; Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index +0.3; Philippine Composite Index +1.1%; Singapore's Straits Times Index little changed; Thailand's SET Index -0.2%; India's Sensex Index -0.8%
- Indonesia's Still a Darling for Investors Ignoring Earnings
--With assistance from Livia Yap
To contact the reporter on this story: Choong En Han in Kuala Lumpur at echoong6@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Divya Balji at dbalji1@bloomberg.net, Margo Towie, Tim Smith
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