* Irish, eurozone debt concerns persist, China rates a
worry
* Asian stocks excluding Japan hit two-week lows
* European stocks follow Asia lower in early trade
* Dollar underpinned by spike in Treasury yields
By Ian Chua
SYDNEY, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Stocks in Asia and Europe fell
on Monday on fears that Ireland may be forced to seek a
financial rescue package, while a jump in U.S. Treasury yields
helped drive the dollar higher.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares
<> shed 0.6 percent in early trade, following most Asian
equity markets lower, as worries about eurozone debt problems
intensifed.
Irish officials have not ruled out the possibility it may
have to turn to Europe for help in dealing with its debt
crisis, but said no application had been made for assistance
yet. []
The Irish Independent reported on Monday that Ireland was
considering asking for money for its banks from the European
Union's emergency fund in a bid to fend off the threat of a
bailout for the state. []
Investors also dumped U.S. Treasuries on renewed criticism
of the Federal Reserve's latest stimulus programme, sending the
five-year Treasury note yield <US5YT=RR> up about 10 basis
points to two-month highs at 1.48 percent.
Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker indicated
he opposed the central bank's new round of monetary easing,
saying he believed the policy was potentially dangerous and
likely ineffective. []
"That looks to be the initial catalyst that sparked the
selloff (in Treasuries), and then it ran into quite a few stops
and became momentum and flow driven," said Sue Trinh, currency
strategist at RBC in Hong Kong.
Persistent concerns that Bejing will raise interest rates
further also spurred selling of riskier assets as traders
worried policy tightening will curb China's robust demand for
commodities and other imports.
Reversing earlier gains, the MSCI index of Asia Pacific
stocks outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> fell 0.7 percent to lows
not seen since Nov. 1. On Friday, the index slid 1.9 percent to
post its biggest one-day percentage fall since late June on
worries that China may have to hike rates more aggressively to
contain a jump in inflation.
Markets drew no comfort from the G20 and APEC meetings,
which left leaders of the world's most powerful economies
little closer to agreeing on how to prevent fresh crises.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
More stories on APEC leaders' meeting: []
More on G20 issues:
[] PDF of G20 battle on imbalances:
http://r.reuters.com/jux34q
For a description of the EU safety net: []
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Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index <> slipped 0.1 percent,
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index <> shed 0.8 percent while a
volatile Shanghai Composite Index <> rose 1 percent, after
last Friday's 5.2 percent slide.
Japan's Nikkei average <> bucked the downdraft,
however, ending 1.1 percent higher as exporters such as Canon
Inc <7751.T> benefited from a weaker yen and as data showing
Japan's economic growth accelerated in the third quarter
spurred investors to buy on dips.
U.S. YIELDS CLIMB
The dollar reversed losses against a basket of major
currencies as U.S. Treasury yields rose across the curve.
RBC's Trinh said the rise in yields prompted dollar short
covering, helping the dollar rise 0.3 percent <.DXY> against a
basket of currencies.
This saw the dollar climb to five-week highs against the
Japanese currency near 83 yen <EUR=>, and the euro <EUR=> slip
back below $1.3700. Commodity currencies such as the Australian
dollar erased earlier gains.
"There's speculation that the Fed may have to scale back
its asset purchase," said a trader at a Japanese bank.
Further hurt by renewed pressure on commodity prices, the
Aussie dollar <AUD=D4> retreated to $0.9833 from a session high
around $0.9900. It has fallen some 3.5 percent from a 28-year
high around $1.0182 set last week.
On the London Metal Exchange (LME), benchmark copper
<CMCU3> lost 1 percent to $8,530 a tonne, extending Friday's 3
percent slide. Gold <XAU=> was little changed at $1,366 an
ounce, but off a one-week low of $1,359.70 seen on Friday.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> was flat at $85 a barrel, down about
4 percent from a 25-month high of $88.63 hit last Thursday.
(Additional reporting by Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo)
(Editing by Kazunori Takada & Kim Coghill)
