* Asia ex-Japan shares fall 0.89 pct ahead of U.S. earnings
* Euro awaits Greece's 1.2 bln euros t-bill sale
* Euro flat vs dlr, falls 0.4 pct against yen
By Raju Gopalakrishnan
SINGAPORE, April 13 (Reuters) - Asian shares fell on
Tuesday ahead of key earnings in the United States while the
euro consolidated against the dollar but fell against the yen
ahead of a treasury bill sale by Greece later in the day.
European stock markets were also expected to open lower,
with spreadbetters seeing Britain's FTSE 100 <> down 12 to
13 points, or as much as 0.2 percent, Germany's DAX <>
down 5 to 7 points, or as much as 0.1 percent, and France's
CAC-40 <> down 11 to 12 points, or as much as 0.3 percent.
Several Asian stock markets and regional currencies fell
back after strong rises over the past several weeks.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei <> fell 0.81 percent, moving
further away from 18-month highs hit last week, as the yen
strengthened and investors took profits in chipmakers ahead of
earnings from tech bellwether Intel Corp <INTC.O> later in the
day. []
"Though good earnings are expected, these predictions are
factored in, so that anything except a large positive surprise
could lead to selling once the results are out," said Takashi
Ushio, head of the investment strategy division at Marusan
Securities.
Other major U.S. companies to report results this week
include JPMorgan <JPM.N>, Google <GOOG.O>, Bank of America
<BAC.N> and General Electric <GE.N>.
But sharp falls are not expected, with support likely to
hold for now near the Nikkei's 25-day moving average, currently
at just under 11,000. The index closed at 11,161.23 points.
"Demand overall isn't bad, and the market currently lacks
strong reasons to either buy or sell," said Kenichi Hirano,
operating officer at Tachibana Securities.
The MSCI index of Asian shares outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> was down 0.89 percent.
Traders said the low-yielding yen, which tends to get
bought back when investors turn cautious, was helped by the
slide in share markets and advanced on the dollar and the euro.
The dollar slipped about 0.4 percent against the yen,
hovering around 92.8 yen <JPY=>.
SHORT-LIVED
The euro's rally against the dollar <EUR=> appeared to be
short-lived as it hovered around $1.3588, broadly steady from
late in New York on Monday, and well below a high of $1.3691
struck in the previous session.
The single currency had jumped after euro zone finance
ministers approved a 30 billion euro ($40.5 billion) rescue
package of loans, which Greece could tap if needed. At least 10
billion euros are also expected from the International Monetary
Fund. []
The euro shed about 0.4 percent on the yen, as doubts
returned about how and whether Athens uses the bailout fund and
how it copes with its debt mound longer term. []
Many traders said in the longer term the bailout package
was not a game-changer and the currency would head lower in the
next few months. But a trader at a European bank said the
single currency could test $1.37 later in the day if a proposed
1.2 billion euros sale of Greek Treasury paper draws a good
response. []
"The auction results would be a litmus test as it's the
first sale after the announcement of the aid package for
Greece," said Mitsuru Sahara, chief manager for the currency
derivatives trading department at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
A sharp drop in yields following Sunday's deal on the
rescue package for Greece should snuff out doubts over Athens'
ability to place the treasury bills, traders in Europe said.
[]
YUAN FLEXIBILITY UNLIKELY SOON
U.S. President Barack Obama met Chinese President Hu Jintao
in Washington on Monday and called for more flexibility in the
yuan. The Xinhua news agency later quoted Hu as telling Obama
that Beijing would "firmly stick" to its own path on the yuan.
[]
The Malaysian ringgit <MYR=>, often used as a proxy for the
yuan, fell 0.7 percent on the news.
"It seems that the market had built up dollar-short
positions in the past two weeks in anticipation of China moves.
What we are seeing is just some short covering," said a Kuala
Lumpur-based dealer. []
On metals markets, London's three-month copper futures
<CMCU3> fell more than half a percent, extending losses after
the market failed to hold on to a rally to a 20-month peak in
the previous session on worries that growth in prices have
outpaced demand. []
U.S. crude futures <CLc1> fell for the fifth straight day,
edging toward $84, ahead of data due later in the day that is
expected to show a build in U.S. crude stockpiles. []
Spot gold <XAU=> edged down after a round of physical
selling pulled down the precious metal from a four-month high
the previous day. []
(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
