Tokyo — Asian shares flinched from testing their 2007 record peak on Wednesday, as investors booked profits in hi-tech shares, while oil prices hit three-year highs due to production cuts and a fall in inventories. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.3% after six straight days of gains that took it to within a stone’s throw of the record high touched in November 2007. Information technology shares led the decline with a 1.1% fall as Samsung Electronics extended losses. The tech company’s profit guidance disappointed investors and raised worries the memory chip boom may be coming to an end. Japan’s Nikkei also shed 0.2%, slipping from 26-year highs hit the day before. "The rally has been a bit too fast. Investors are taking profits in high-flying hi-tech shares. But the earnings and economic outlook in Asia remains solid," said Yukino Yamada, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities. Indeed, expectations of solid corporate profit growth helped Wall Stree...
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