Asia shares extend losses after Wall St slip

Hong Kong  - Asian markets sank on Wednesday, following a negative lead from Wall Street, while China released data showing inflation eased slightly in June after hitting a four-month high in May.

There is also a nervousness that equities could be in line for a correction following a recent rally over the past few weeks.

Tokyo slipped 0.34%, Sydney shed 0.90% and Seoul was 0.44% lower, while Hong Kong lost 1.16% and Shanghai eased 0.18%.

Jakarta was closed for presidential elections.

US shares retreated on Tuesday for a second straight session after returning from the long, Independence Day weekend. The S&P 500 and Dow closed Thursday at record highs after a better-than-expected report on US jobs creation.

The Dow slipped 0.69%, the S&P 500 fell 0.70% and the Nasdaq tumbled 1.35%.

Some observers have predicted a pullback after the latest surge across global markets. Among them this week Nobel prizewinning economist Joseph Stiglitz said he was "very uncomfortable" with current prices.

There are also concerns that the Federal Reserve could accelerate its plan to raise interest rates next year in light of recent upbeat economic data out of Washington.

In China the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement that inflation came in at 2.3% last month, down from 2.5% in May.

It is also slightly below 2.4% forecast by economists for Dow Jones Newswires and well short of the 3.5% annual target set by Beijing.

Traders will now be keeping a close eye on Thursday's trade statistics and the release next week of April-June economic growth data, hoping for an improvement on the previous three months.

On currency markets the dollar's advances against the yen last week have been all but eliminated.

In early Tokyo trade the greenback was quoted at ¥101.5, against ¥101.57 in New York and well below the ¥102.11 level touched on Monday in Japan.

The euro bought $1.3615 and ¥138.26 compared with $1.3611 and ¥138.24

Oil prices were mixed. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery rose eight cents to $103.48 while Brent crude eased 8c to $108.86.

Gold fetched $1 319.57 an ounce at 02:10 GMT compared with $1 322.43 late on Tuesday.