* Nikkei falls 1.7 percent, MSCI Asia ex-Japan flat
* Euro retreats from 4-month high as Portugal vote looms
* Yen sticks close to 81 per dollar
* Brent crude edges down below $116 a barrel
By Alex Richardson
SINGAPORE, March 23 (Reuters) - Uncertainty over the human
and economic damage inflicted by Japan's earthquake, tsunami and
nuclear crisis weighed on Asia stocks on Wednesday, and the euro
eased ahead of a parliamentary vote in Portugal that could see
the government fall.
Major European share markets were expected to open down
around 0.4 percent, according to financial bookmakers in London,
while S&P 500 futures fell 0.3 percent, pointing to a
weaker start on Wall Street.
Oil was steady, after gaining on Tuesday as violence in
Libya and unrest in Yemen fuelled worries of supply disruptions.
Turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East also supported
safe-haven demand for gold.
Japan's Nikkei fell 1.7 percent as investors took
profits from a two-session bounce. Japanese stocks remain around
8 percent below their close on March 11, the day northeast Japan
was struck by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and 10-metre tsunami.
The disaster left more than 23,000 people dead or missing,
crippled a nuclear power plant that has been leaking radiation
and hit production at major companies such as Sony Corp
and Toyota Motor .
A Japanese government report estimated the material damage
from the disaster at around $200-$300 billion and said planned
power outages would have a "significant" additional impact.
"It's not that the market is ignoring fundamentals," said
Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex Inc. "We just simply
don't know them yet, as many companies are still gathering
information about damage sustained during the disasters."
Underlining the continuing risks, the United States became
the first country to block food imports from parts of Japan due
to radiation fears.
CAUTION PREVAILS
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
was flat, weighed down by the Japan crisis and
following falls on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrial
average lost 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 fell 0.4
percent.
"It's fairly evident that while we have had added strength
in our market, there is still caution out there, with the view
that markets are not going to race up in any great hurry," said
Jamie Spiteri, senior dealer at Shaw Stockbroking in Australia.
Nervousness and volatility in the stock market supported
Japanese government bonds, with benchmark 10-year futures
rising 0.33 point to 139.73, while the 10-year yield
fell 3 basis points to 1.215 percent.
"The incident is likely to slow Japan's economic growth, so
markets are expected to factor this in," said Akito Fukunaga,
chief fixed-income strategist at RBS Securities.
"I think the influence of the economic slowdown surpasses
worries over Japan's fiscal position in the JGB markets."
PORTUGAL CRISIS
Portugal's parliament was due to vote on the minority
Socialist government's latest austerity measures on Wednesday,
with Prime Minister Jose Socrates threatening to resign if the
opposition rejects the proposals.
"If Prime Minister Socrates steps down, Portugal will likely
ask the European Union and the IMF for help, which is likely to
trigger a bit of euro selling," said Junya Tanase, chief
strategist at JPMorgan Chase Bank in Tokyo.
The euro traded around $1.4165 , off a four-month high
near $1.4250 reached on Tuesday.
Also weighing on the euro were rumours that Allied Irish
Banks , which has been effectively nationalised, was
planning to miss a coupon payment, driving the premium that
investors demand to hold Irish 2-year bonds to a euro-era high.
AIB said in a statement it would pay the coupon due on
Wednesday as scheduled.
The yen remained little moved over the past 24 hours,
hugging a tight range close to 81 per dollar. Traders were wary
the Bank of Japan might step in again if the dollar fell below
80.50, following Friday's rare market intervention by leading
central banks to curb the currency's strength.
Last week, expectations the cost of quake reconstruction
would prompt insurance firms and others in Japan -- a big net
creditor to the rest of the world -- to repatriate yen drove the
Japanese currency to a record 76.25 per dollar before the Group
of Seven launched the first coordinated intervention since 2000.
Oil edged down a touch, after gaining on Tuesday as fighting
in producer Libya and unrest in Yemen, which neighbours top
producer Saudi Arabia, fuelled worries of supply disruptions.
Brent crude eased 0.3 percent to $115.44.
"The market is still very vulnerable to further disruptions
to supply," said Tetsu Emori, a Tokyo-based commodities fund
manager at Astmax Investments. "People are quite nervous about
the current turmoil spreading to Saudi Arabia."
Spot gold was steady around $1,427.35 an ounce.
(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
