ASIA MARKETS: Asia Stocks Slip Amid Fed-outlook Worries

By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japanese and Australian stocks wavered in choppy trade Monday, as worries about the Federal Reserve's policy outlook and rising U.S Treasury yields weighed on sentiment.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.3%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.1%, with both changing direction a few times. South Korea's fell 0.4%.

The weakness came after U.S. stocks ended lower on Friday, handing the Dow Jones Industrial Average its worst weekly performance of the year. Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to hit the highest level in two years amid monetary-policy jitters.

"Recent weakness in U.S. equity markets appears to have been largely about positioning for the Fed to make a first step in the process of winding back its quantitative easing in September," said CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner.

"Given this market context, traders will focus on ... [Fed meeting minutes, due out Wednesday] for any clearer signs on the probability of a Fed move," Spooner said.

Steel makers and some automobile stocks dropped in Tokyo on Monday, even as the yen weakened a little after data showing the country's trade deficit widened sharply in July from the year-ago period.

Suzuki Motor Corp. (SZKMY) dropped 1.2%, and JFE Holdings Inc. (5411.TO) retreated 1.8%.

However, shares of Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. (KWHIY) rose 0.8% after the Nikkei newspaper reported the company will team up with Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (RYCEY) to develop a new aircraft engine that is more fuel-efficient.

The market in Sydney suffered a drag from shares of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBAUY), which dropped 2.8%, and telecommunications major Telstra Corp. (TLSYY), which declined 3.1%, as both stocks traded without rights to a dividend.

BlueScope Steel Ltd. (BLSFY) sank 12.8% after it said it doesn't expect a better outcome for the first half of 2014 than it had in the second-half of 2013. BlueScope's annual loss narrowed to 84.1 million Australian dollars ($77.3 million).

On the upside in Asia, however, energy producers gained after oil prices rose Friday in the U.S.

In Tokyo, Japan Petroleum Exploration Corp. climbed 0.6%, and Inpex Corp. (IPXHF) added 0.8%, while Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WOPEY) gained 1.3% in Sydney.

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