Asia exporters down; Chalco debut sizzles

SINGAPORE, Apr 30 (Reuters) Weaker-than-expected U.S. growth data and a weak dollar dragged on Asian export stocks on Monday, but resource counters were strong, and shares in Chinese alumina firm Chalco tripled on their mainland debut.

With Tokyo markets closed for a holiday and many financial markets gearing up for a shutdown later in the week, Asian trading was subdued, and bourses failed to extend the record levels they set last week despite an all-time high for the Dow on Friday.

Exporters fell, with South Korea's Samsung Electronics down 1.2 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng <.hsi> shed 1.0 percent and MSCI's index of non-Japan Asian shares <.msciapj> was 0.4 percent lower at 0245 GMT.

But Wall Street strength in the face of the slowest U.S.

quarterly GDP growth for four years lent support, as did firm crude oil [nSYD253838] and strong copper prices [nSP79435] in the resources sector. BHP Billiton gained 0.5 percent and the resource-heavy Australian stock index <.axjo> climbed 1.0 percent.

''The U.S. market was pretty neutral and is in record territory so that's going to be positive. On top of that, we have another strong performance on commodities,'' said Michael Heffernan, senior client adviser and strategist at Austock Stockbroking.

Chinese stocks shrugged off a central bank announcement at the weekend that it would raise bank reserve ratios to help restrain loan growth.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index <.ssec> was up 0.2 percent. It is up over 40 percent this year, after soaring 130 percent in 2006. Aluminum Corp. of China (Chalco) , the world's third-largest producer of alumina, tripled from its offer price as it listed in Shanghai.

U.S. stocks closed higher. The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> edged up 0.12 percent to a record close for the third successive day since it crossed the 13,000 mark last Wednesday, and the Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> finished up 0.11 percent at its highest since the end of 2001.

SAUDI SCARE Brent crude oil prices hovered above $68 a barrel following sharp gains at the end of last week, with investors still on edge over a foiled plot to attack oil facilities in top exporter Saudi Arabia.

Brent rallied over 1 percent on Friday, lifting the week's gains to nearly $2, after Saudi Arabia said it fended off an al-Qaeda-linked plot to attack oil facilities, military bases and public figures, arresting Islamist militants, including some trainee pilots preparing for suicide operations.

''Saudi Arabia's announcement has served as a sharp reminder to the market of the potential risks to oil supplies,'' said David Moore, an analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

The dollar clawed up from the record low it reached against the euro late last week, a respite from a steady three-month slide that has been driven by expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates later in the year.

Friday's data showing U.S. economic growth slowed to a 1.3 percent annual pace in the first quarter underscored investor worries that the housing market troubles are severe enough to prompt the Fed to act.

The yen, which has suffered even more than the dollar from Japan's very low rates, also got a slight boost as some market players unwound carry trades in which they borrow in the yen to fund purchases of higher-yielding currencies or risky assets.

''There are two dominant themes in FX markets presently -- bearish dollar sentiment and bullish carry trade sentiment.

Skewed positioning is the only factor that could arrest these trends in the near term,'' said Sue Trinh, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets, in a note to clients.

The dollar was at 119.50 yen compared with 119.60 yen in late New York trade on Friday. The euro was at 163.07 yen .

The single currency was also little changed at $1.3646 from near $1.3650 late on Friday when it climbed as high as $1.3683, the strongest since its 1999 launch.

Gold eased to an ounce 679.95 from about $681.55 in New York on Friday where it climbed $7 on the Saudi attack plan news.

Shanghai copper rose 1 percent ahead of a week-long holiday in China and Japan.

REUTERS PV VP1138