(Repeats to wider audience, with no changes to text)
* MSCI Asia-ex Japan share index hits 17-month low
* Oil tries to snap 3-day decline, trading at $113
* Japan's economy shrinks by 0.6 percent in Q2
By Kevin Plumberg
HONG KONG, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Asian stocks fell on
Wednesday, with regional shares outside of Japan hitting a
17-month low, on the growing risk of a sharp global economic
slowdown.
The dollar hovered near six-month highs against a basket of
major currencies, with investors watching oil and stock markets
for direction.
Data showing Japan's economy contracted in the second
quarter added to a sense of unease about growth prospects and
reinforced concerns that the world's second-largest economy may
have slipped into a recession. []
Also, credit woes showed no signs of ending after a year,
with JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N>, the No.3 U.S. bank, saying on
Tuesday it chalked up $1.5 billion in losses so far this
quarter on mortgage-related assets.
That weighed on U.S. shares overnight.
"Fresh credit worries and the subsequent share falls on
Wall Street are weighing on sentiment," said Hwang Geum-dan, a
market analyst at Samsung Securities in Seoul.
"Despite oil's falls, investors remain cautious as concerns
about fundamentals such as economies and corporate earnings
pervade the markets."
Japan's Nikkei share average <> fell 2.2 percent, led
lower for a second day by shares of clothing company Fast
Retailing <9983.T>.
Japan's economy shrank 0.6 percent in the second quarter,
as expected, ending the longest period of expansion since World
War Two. Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano said the economy could
shrink further but a contraction would not last long.
Stocks elsewhere in Asia-Pacific <.MIAPJ0000PUS> slid about
1.6 percent to the lowest since March 2007, according to an
MSCI index. The index has fallen 32 percent since hitting an
all-time high last November.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index <> fell 1.7 percent,
dragged down by shares of China Mobile <0941.HK>, which hit
their lowest in almost a year on worries the company's bottom
line is vulnerable to slower growth.
South Korea's KOSPI <> slipped about 1 percent, with
technology heavyweights Samsung Electronics <005930.KS> and LG
Electronics <066570.KS> leading the way lower.
Crude oil prices and the U.S. dollar continued to trade
close together, with a decline in one coinciding with a rise in
the other.
Analysts say one of the biggest uncertainties as to whether
the dollar's 10 percent rise against the euro since mid-July is
sustainable is whether oil prices will start climbing again.
"We remain wary of any rebound in oil and commodity prices
as it could trigger a partial reversal of recent moves," said
Brian Kim, currency strategist with UBS in Stamford,
Connecticut.
"Although markets have moved quickly, we expect further
consolidation of new ranges up ahead and shift our euro/dollar
forecasts to $1.51 and $1.47 for 1 month and 3 months,
respectively," he said in a note.
The euro edged up 0.1 percent to $1.4925 <EUR=>, after
hitting its lowest since February around $1.48 on Tuesday.
Against the yen, the dollar fell 0.4 percent to 108.80 yen
<JPY=>, moving further away from a 7-month high above 110 yen
hit on Monday.
The September U.S. light crude contract nudged up to
$113.25 a barrel <CLc1>, off Tuesday's three-month low of
$112.31.
Despite crude's small comeback, there are growing signs of
a significant drop in energy demand from the world's top
consumers of oil.
U.S. crude demand in the first half fell by the most since
1982, a government report showed. That data followed a report
on Monday that said July crude imports by China fell by a
surprising 7 percent to a seven-month low.
