SINGAPORE, Oct 30 - Most Asian stocks dipped on Thursday as the soft dollar prompted wary investors to sell export-linked Japanese shares ahead of a testimony from the U.S. Treasury chief and the release of U.S. third-quarter GDP data. The dollar held near three-year lows amid caution that Treasury Secretary John Snow might criticise Tokyo's intervention in the currency market when he addresses the Senate later in the day. The Bank of Japan was said to have stepped in to buy dollars on Wednesday. The dollar was at 108.19 yen , near late New York's level of 108.30 yen and just above a three-year low of 107.86 hit in early London trade on Wednesday. Shares in exporters fell in Tokyo, with Sharp Corp <6753.T> losing 1.3 percent. A bailout report sparked selling of UFJ Holdings Inc <8307.T>, which lost 1.2 percent, and other banks. The Nihon Keizai newspaper said UFJ Holdings was finalising plans to extend more than 100 billion yen ($924.2 million) in financial aid to troubled home builder Misawa Homes Holdings Inc <1722.T>. "The report on the UFJ aid has been a factor, and it comes with the banks already facing profit-taking following the rise fuelled by UFJ's forecast revision," said Hiroyuki Nakaichief, strategist at Tokai Tokyo Securities. "And for techs, the fall in the dollar below 108 yen is a very big worry as many investors had seen 108 as a key support line... so it is looking like a difficult spot to buy techs." The Nikkei index <.N225> ended morning trade down 0.04 percent at 10,734.6, after a 1.7 percent rise on Wednesday that marked its fourth straight winning session.
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MSCI's broadest index of Asian shares outside Japan <.MSCIAPJ> dropped 0.1 percent, but is still up 7.7 percent in a month and near three-year highs. Hong Kong's benchmark index <.HSI> fell one percent, led by Li & Fung Ltd <0494.HK>. The consumer goods exporter sank 6.5 percent after major shareholder Anglo American Plc said on Wednesday it had sold its remaining 4.6 percent stake in the firm for about US$220 million. The weaker tone in Asia came despite Wall Street's third straight day of gains on Wednesday on solid earnings news, with benchmark indices up 0.1-0.3 percent. Taiwan stocks were mostly flat, but memory chip maker ProMOS Technologies Inc <5387.TWO> rose 2.1 percent after reporting a return to profits and making a sound profit forecast. Singapore stocks <.STI> erased early gains to fall 0.5 percent, while Australian stocks <.AXJO> edged up 0.3 percent. South Korea's key index <.KS11> rose 0.6 percent, led by exporters such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS>, which gained half a percent. Oil continued to fall on a report of healthy gains in U.S. stockpiles of crude and distillates in the latest week, easing fears about possible winter supply shortages. December NYMEX crude shed three cents to $28.88 in Asia. Gold was slightly lower at $386.40 an ounce.//