Asian shares slip as Fed nears, Japan up on yen weakness

Dec 10 (Reuters) - U.S (Other OTC: - ). stocks were higher on Thursday after three days of declines but pared some gains as oil prices fell to near seven-year lows.

A man walks past an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo Friday, Dec. 11, 2015.

Traders work shortly after the opening bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in the Manhattan borough of New York. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 65.83 points, or 1.30 percent, to 4,979.34, Xinhua news agency reported.

James of Wedbush said investors are anxious about high-yield markets, especially as it relates to high-yield debt and energy needs after New York-based Third Avenue Management said Thursday it was trying to liquidate a roughly US$1 billion junk bond fund in the biggest failure in the United States mutual fund industry since the 2008 financial crisis. Another measure of anxiety, the VIX index, jumped. The cartel said its oil production rose by 230,000 barrels a day in November in November to 31.70 million barrels a day, in a sign seen as continuing its strategy to protect its market share. The low oil price has also decimated profits at energy companies. "And finally we had retail sales that fell short of expectations", says Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank. "It's kind of a depressing market". The stock fell 3 percent. Consol Energy Inc added 10.14%. Freeport McMoRan, a mining giant, dropped 6 percent.

Adding to the somber mood, China's yuan fell to its lowest in 4-1/2 years on concerns about the country's slowing economy and expectations of a USA rate hike.

If the S&P 500 and Dow average log losses on Friday, it would be the fourth time in five sessions that the equity markets have moved lover amid concerns over a persistent rout in commodity markets.

Crude oil was also down over 3 percent and below $36 a barrel.

EUROPE DOWN: France's CAC 40 shed 2.1 per cent and Germany's DAX lost 2.6 per cent. Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 2.1 per cent. Their prices have fallen sharply as investors fear the companies that issued the bonds might default.

Yahoo was down 3.4 percent at $33.43.

Among tech shares, Alibaba lost 5.4 percent after announcing it would buy Hong Kong's leading English-language newspaper.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up about 0.1% in early trading. In South Korea, Kospi Index declined 0.41% and China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.85%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.2 percent to 5,029.50. The stock is up 26 percent since the start of the year.

CORNING RISES: Corning rose 88 cents, or 5 percent, to $18.57 after the company said it will give up its stake in Dow Corning, a joint venture with Dow Chemical. Instead it will invest in a semiconductor business that is owned by Dow Corning.

The U.S. dollar slumped as commodity-linked currencies reversed steep losses with the recovery in oil prices, while the euro and yen both hit one-month highs versus the dollar.

Precious and industrial metals futures closed mixed.

Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index plunged by 5.7 percent, while the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index slumped by 3.6 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.