Oil heads to 6-year low, China data pares losses

Hong Kong - Energy stocks took a hit in Asian trade Tuesday as oil prices fell towards six-year lows with warnings of further volatility ahead but some rare upbeat Chinese trade data helped Hong Kong and Shanghai into positive territory.

Tokyo dived 1.74% by the break as it played catch-up with global markets after a three-day weekend, while Sydney fell 0.65% and Seoul lost 0.34%.

However, Hong Kong added 0.52% and Shanghai gained 0.26%.

Crude sank again on Monday after Wall Street investment titan Goldman Sachs slashed its price outlook for the commodity, adding to anxiety about a global oversupply, weak demand and soft growth in the key Chinese and European markets.

The warning sent US shares tumbling, with the Dow down 0.54%, the S&P 500 off 0.81% and the Nasdaq tumbling 0.84%.

"There is no escaping crude's effect on global markets," Evan Lucas, a markets strategist in Melbourne at IG, said, according to Bloomberg News. "This will see first-half volatility ramping up throughout the globe."

In early Asian exchanges oil prices continued their descent after Monday's pummelling.

Brent crude for February delivery fell 75 cents to $46.68 a barrel - its lowest level April 2009. On Monday it plunged more than 5% to end below $50.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate shed 73 cents to $45.34 - its weakest since March 2009 - a day after losing 4.7%.

The weakness filtered through to Asian energy companies. In Sydney BHP Billiton lost 1.86% and Woodside Petroleum fell 1.65%, while CNOOC in Hong Kong was 1.13% lower. Tokyo-listed Inpex shed 3.68% and Showa Shell gave up 3.43%.

Shanghai and Hong Kong reversed initial losses following the release of Chinese trade figures.

The General Administration of Customs said exports rose 9.9% year-on-year in December, while imports fell 2.3%. That resulted in an almost doubling of the country's trade surplus during the month.

On currency markets the yen edged up against the euro and dollar as increased uncertainty leads traders to look for safer investments.

The euro bought $1.1838, compared with $1.1834 in New York, while it was also at ¥139.69 against ¥139.98.

The dollar fetched ¥117.92, compared with ¥118.27 in US trade.

Gold was $1 236.23 an ounce, compared with $1 222.03 on Friday.