HONG KONG: Investors mostly sold off stocks in Asian trade today as the dollar slipped back towards 15-year lows against the yen on expectations of new monetary easing measures in the United States. The strong yen weighed on Japan's key exporters, including video game giant Nintendo, which yesterday announced the surging currency had forced it to more than halve its profit forecast. Tokyo's Nikkei fell 0.68% by the break, with Nintendo seeing its share price slump 10%. The company was also hurt by its announcement that it will not release it anticipated 3DS handheld console before Christmas. Export companies, which are the main driver for Japan's tentative economic recovery, fell as the dollar dropped to 83.55 yen in Tokyo morning trade, from 83.72 yen in New York late yesterday. The greenback is well off the high-85 yen mark it reached after Japanese authorities stepped into the currency markets for the first time in six years on Sept 15. Fears are now growing that the dollar could slip back to the 82.83 yen it hit before the intervention, its lowest level since 1995. Although Tokyo has said it will sell more yen again if needed, the dollar is being pressured as most dealers now think the United States will inject more cash into its economy in a bid to kickstart its recovery. Worst recession The Federal Reserve has said it was prepared to support the US economy as it struggles to emerge from its worst recession in decades. "The trend of the weaker dollar against the yen is continuing as expectation of the Japanese authorities' intervention in the currency market is overwhelmed by the expectations of an intervention by the Federal Reserve," said Barclays Capital in a note to clients. The yen was also higher against the euro, with the European single currency at 113.84 yen from 114.08 in New York. The euro bought 1.3609 dollars, down from 1.3625 in New York, its strongest level since mid-April. "Investors are still worried about the yen's strength, so they don't want to chase the market higher," Hikaru Sato, senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets, told Dow Jones Newswires. Hong Kong was 0.47% off, Sydney slipped 1.22%, Singapore fell 0.20% and Seoul was down 0.09%.. However, Shanghai rose 0.89%. Regional traders followed a weak cue from the United States where the Dow fell 0.21%. On oil markets New York's main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, slipped 10 US cents to US$77.76 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November, gained four cents to US$80.81. Gold opened at 1,306.80-1,307.80 US dollars an ounce in Hong Kong, down from yesterday's record high closing price of 1,310.00-1,311.00 dollars.

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