Asian shares slip, China data fail to temper growth concerns

By Lisa Twaronite

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares edged down on Monday, taking little comfort from mixed Chinese trade data, while sterling's decline after a poll showed rising support for Scottish independence helped bolster the dollar.

China's exports rose more than forecast in August while imports unexpectedly fell, pushing the trade surplus to a record high for the second consecutive month and underlining the challenges of sluggish domestic demand.

"The China data (strong exports, weak imports) shows that the global economy is recovering while the Chinese economy is showing a weaker-than-expected recovery," said Hikaru Sato, a senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.

Sterling shed 0.7 percent to $1.6221 after sliding as low as $1.6165 in early trade, the lowest since last November and the biggest daily drop in eight months, after a poll showed the "yes" to Scottish independence campaign on 51 percent against 49 percent for the "no" camp.

Data on Friday showed U.S. nonfarm payrolls grew by only 142,000 last month, far below the 225,000 forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.

The downbeat jobs report suggested the Federal Reserve will hold off on hiking interest rates anytime soon, and helped the S&P 500 hit a fresh closing high.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.2 percent, while the Nikkei stock average climbed about 0.2 percent, shrugging off data that showed Japanese economy fell into a deeper hole in the second quarter.

Figures released before Tokyo opened showed Japan's economy shrank an annualised 7.1 percent in April-June from the previous quarter, revised down from a preliminary 6.8 percent contraction due to weaker-than-expected capital spending.

Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index, meanwhile, hit a record high in early trading, besting the previous record set in May 2013.

In contrast to sterling's sharp moves, other major currencies were treading water. The dollar was steady on the day at 105.07 yen, remaining shy of its nearly six-year high of 105.71 touched on Friday.

The euro also steadied at $1.2952, holding above a 14-month low of $1.2920 hit last week in the wake of the European Central Bank's easing steps on Thursday.

Net short positions in the euro ballooned in the latest week ended Sept. 2, rising to their largest in more than two years, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday.

"The less extreme positioning in sterling and the looming Scottish referendum may mean that sterling lags behind the euro during the days ahead," Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York, said in a note to clients.

On the commodities front, spot gold was flat at $1,268.61 an ounce, well above a three-month low of $1,256.90 hit on Friday before the U.S. jobs data.

Brent crude edged down 0.1 percent to $100.70 a barrel, after having posted its third weekly drop in four weeks.

(Additional reporting by Ayai Tomisawa in Tokyo; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)