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Hong Kong - Asian markets mostly sank again on Thursday after Wall Street was hit by a further fall in oil prices, while the dollar edged up after tumbling against the yen.
Analysts said traders were taking their cash off the table before the end of the year after enjoying a surge over the past few weeks that has been supported by strong US data, Japanese easing measures and hopes for stimulus in China.
Tokyo tumbled 1.54%, Hong Kong sank 1.40%, Sydney shed 0.58% and Seoul lost 0.85% but Shanghai added 0.20%.
In New York the Dow and S&P 500, which last week ended at record highs, retreated owing to a pullback in petroleum plays that came after Opec lowered its demand forecast for 2015 and the US revealed its stockpiles surged.
The Dow fell 1.51%, the S&P 500 sank 1.64% and the Nasdaq slipped 1.73%.
However, oil prices rebounded slightly in Asia Thursday. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery gained 53 cents to $61.47 while Brent crude for January was up 54 cents to $64.78.
WTI dropped $2.88 in New York, while Brent lost $2.60 in London.
READ: Oil crashes 5%, nears $60 on weak demand
Crude has plunged around 40% since June on the back of an oversupply in global markets, which was exacerbated by Opec's output decision last month.
On foreign exchange markets the dollar ticked up to ¥118.18 in late morning trade after sinking to as low as ¥117.44 at one point as traders spooked by the equities selling looked for safer investments. The yen is considered a haven in times of turmoil.
The greenback is still well down from the seven-year-high of ¥121.84 seen on Monday.
"Large overseas hedge funds and other hedged investors are making their year-end position adjustments, booking profits after going long on the dollar and Nikkei futures and shorting the yen," Eiji Kinouchi, chief technical strategist at Daiwa Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
The euro slipped to ¥146.43 early on Thursday before bouncing back to ¥147.20. It sat at ¥146.68 in US trade. The single currency was also at $1.2486 against $1.2446 in New York.
In Shanghai stocks bucked the global trend again after a roller-coaster week that saw the composite index plunge more than 5% on Tuesday, having racked up gains of more than 20% since mid-November.
The market has been buoyant as traders bet on the government introducing fresh stimulus measures after last month unveiling a surprise cut in interest rates.
In Hong Kong dealers are keeping an eye on the streets as police and bailiffs prepare to clear the main pro-democracy site after more than two months of occupation.
Gold was at $1 228.00 an ounce compared with $1204.67 late Tuesday.
