Asian shares edge up

HONG KONG, May 27 (AFP): Asian shares were mostly higher Friday but Tokyo edged down after data showed consumer prices rose for the first time in 28 months in April due to higher fuel prices following the March 11 earthquake. Sydney gained 0.51 per cent, or 23.8 points, to 4,684.0, Seoul rose 0.40 per cent, or 8.33 points, to 2,100.24 and Hong Kong was 0.95 per cent, or 217.28 points, higher at 23,118.07. But Shanghai ended 0.97 per cent, or 26.58 points, lower at 2,709.95, its seventh successive loss. Tokyo's Nikkei slipped 0.42 per cent, or 40.11 points, to 9,521.94 after the government released figures showing prices rose 0.6 per cent year on year last month, the first increase since December 2008. Dealers sold up as the data, which excludes volatile food prices, pointed to a jump in costs for oil products due to higher import prices and supply problems. Analysts said the jump does not indicate an end to the country's deflationary woes. "The CPI uptick came mostly from higher materials costs being passed on to consumers rather than an increase in demand," and that could hurt consumer spending, Hideyuki Ishiguro, a strategist at Okasan Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires. After the markets closed Fitch Ratings downgraded its outlook on Japanese debt to negative from stable. In afternoon Asian trade the dollar fetched 80.96 yen, down from 81.29 in New York late Thursday and well off the 82.00 a day earlier.