Asian Shares Slip On Economic Worries

The outcome reflects investors' reaction to disappointing US jobs data and other concerns about economic recovery.

Asian shares tumbled on Monday, pushing the broader Tokyo market to a 28-year low, as investors globally reacted to disappointing US jobs data, a nightmare of eurozone breakup, and other signs that economic recovery is facing challenges.

Tokyo's broader Topix index lost 2.1 per cent to 693.35, a level not seen since late 1983, as Asian markets plumbed new lows for 2012. Japan's Nikkei average fell 2 per cent after last week marking its ninth straight week of losses, the longest such losing streak run in 20 years.

Investors continued to head for the relative safety of bonds after weak US jobs data on Friday sparked a global stampede out of equities and hit the euro and some risky currencies hard.

US job growth braked sharply for a third straight month in May and the jobless rate rose for the first time in nearly a year.

The weak US data followed poor Chinese manufacturing data and dismal European reports on factory activity.

Markets had already been on edge over the deepening euro-zone crisis.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan plunged 2.2 per cent to their lowest since December.

And US stock futures pointed to yet more selling when investors wake up in North America on Monday, with S&P 500 futures down 0.8 per cent in Asian trade.

The euro and the Australian dollar, which is closely linked to risk appetite, staged only meek recoveries from their battering on Friday when the Australian currency hit eight-month lows.

The yen, perceived as a safer currency in times of crisis, retreated from its highs against the dollar.

Overall, though, investors hedged against global financial and economic crisis, heading for havens such as the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond whose yield fell below 0.80 percent to its lowest since July 2003.

Ten-year JGB futures prices jumped to a 19-month high.

US and German government bond yields had both hit record lows on Friday.

Analysts said the flight to bonds was expected to continue until clarity emerged on issues such as the outcome of Greek elections due on June 17 and the recapitalisation of European banks, now in the shadow of a Spanish banking crisis.