RPT-GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks slip on growth, inflation fears
* Investors face triple threat: banks, inflation, slow growth
* Bernanke sees downside risks to growth; upside to inflation
* U.S. dollar stabilises after hitting record low vs euro (Repeats to more subscribers)
HONG KONG, July 16 (Reuters) - Asian stocks slipped on Wednesday as investors grew more pessimistic about global growth prospects, knocking oil below $140 a barrel.
Companies across the region, such as Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), the world's biggest car maker, and Huaneng Power International (0902.HK), China's top electricity provider, have been lowering their sales and earnings outlook in the face of slower demand and higher costs.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that while the likelihood is high that the U.S. economy would slow further, the outlook for inflation had also intensified, providing little comfort for investors and consumers struggling in stagflationary conditions. [ID:nN15305285]
Shares in the financial sector mostly fell, though not as sharply as on Tuesday, on general unease about banks' balance sheets after the unveiling of a U.S. bailout plan for top mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac caused investors to fear the worst about the health of smaller institutions.
"The macro economy is now facing the prospect of the triple shock of an extended credit crunch, high inflation and slowing growth; the very three objectives central bank policy is designed to overcome," said Sean Darby, chief Asia strategist for Nomura in Hong Kong.
Japan's Nikkei share average slipped 0.15 percent, touching a 3-1/2-month low.
Toyota cut its global sales target for 2008 by 3.6 percent, largely to reflect a sharp U.S. slowdown, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK, dragging the company's shares down 1.3 percent and representing the extent to which sluggish growth in the West has a domino effect on the rest of the world.
The MSCI pan-Asia equity index .MIAS00000PUS was down 0.7 percent to its lowest in two years. The Asia Pacific ex-Japan index .MSCIAPJ was largely unchanged on the day, though its year-to-date losses were 24 percent.
Australia's benchmark index .AXJO edged up 0.2 percent, boosted by a recovery in shares of the country's banks.
The U.S. dollar stabilised against the euro after hitting a record low overnight on instability in the U.S. financial sector.
A sharp drop in oil prices and comments from Bernanke supported the dollar.
"Bernanke placed top priority in returning the U.S. financial sector back to normal, which further pushed back rate hike expectations," said Hideaki Inoue, chief manager of forex trading at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Bank in Tokyo.
"But the dollar was not sold as much as otherwise possible thanks to the lower oil prices," Inoue said.
The euro was largely unchanged on the day at $1.5912 after climbing to a high around $1.6040 EUR=. The dollar recovered against the yen to trade at 104.83 yen JPY=, up 0.2 percent JPY=.
Crude was steady at $138.64 a barrel CLc1 after tumbling 4.4 percent on Tuesday -- its biggest daily loss since Jan. 17, 1991, when the United States began bombing Iraq in the first Gulf war.
Japanese government bonds edged down with the benchmark 10-year yield JP10YTN=JBTC rebounding from a three-month low as investors took a breather after a month-long rally, but lingering concern about the economy limited losses. (Editing by Kim Coghill) (Additional reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro in Tokyo)
