Asia shares fall on economic growth fears

Asian markets fell Wednesday as dealers ignored a surge on Wall Street, with worries about the global economy continuing to weigh on sentiment while Japan's credit rating was cut.
The dollar slipped against the yen on disappointment over a Japanese plan to halt its currency's rise, which hit a post-war record last week, with many dealers saying the government was not bold enough.
Tokyo tumbled 1.07 percent, or 93.40 points, to end at 8,639.61.
Hong Kong tumbled 2.06 percent, or 408.74 points, to 19,466.79 while Shanghai fell 0.51 percent, or 12.93 points, to 2,541.09.
Traders were given a strong lead from the United States, where the Dow soared 2.97 percent, the S&P 500 leaped 3.43 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 4.29 percent ahead of a key speech by Bernanke this week.
Expectations are high that the Fed chief will announce new plans -- such as a third round of quantitative easing -- to try to deal with the stagnating US economy, which many fear could fall back into recession.
The greenback eased to 76.50 after Japan's finance ministry set out measures to deal with the strong yen. The yen hit a post-war record high of 75.95 on Friday.
Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda unveiled Wednesday a $100 billion facility to ease the impact of the surging unit on companies.
The euro inched down to $1.4412 from $1.4436 while the European single unit fell to 110.49 yen from 110.69.
On oil markets Brent crude hovered at nearly $110 a barrel, underpinned by the crisis in oil-rich Libya, analysts said.
Brent North Sea crude for October delivery was three cents higher at $109.34 dollars a barrel in the afternoon, from Tuesday's close of $109.31.
On Monday, as news broke that Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's rule could soon end, the contract fell to below $106.
New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light sweet crude for October delivery, added 28 cents to $85.72 a barrel.
Gold closed in Hong Kong at $1,850.00-$1,851.00 an ounce, down from Tuesday's close of $1,875.00-$1,876.00.
In other markets:
Singapore fell 1.64 percent, or 45.25 points, to close at 2,719.90. Bangkok closed 1.03 percent, or 10.85 points, lower at 1,046.43.
Mumbai fell 1.29 percent, or 213.49 points, to 16,284.98. The world's largest mining firm Coal India fell 4.61 percent to 373.85 rupees while Tata Steel slid 4.28 percent to 455.4 rupees. India's largest commercial bank State Bank of India fell 3.53 percent to 1,992.15 rupees.