Asian stocks fell for the first time in seven days, led by financial and real-estate companies, after Macquarie Group Ltd. reported profit that missed estimates and Credit Suisse Group downgraded Japanese developers.
Macquarie, Australia’s largest securities company, slumped the most in two months. Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. dropped in Tokyo after Credit Suisse said a decline in house prices may accelerate as banks curb loans. Samsung Electronics Co. led technology stocks lower after SanDisk Corp., the world’s biggest flash-memory card maker, said sales were ``soft’’ last month.
``The growth outlook for banks is still very challenging,’’ said Daphne Roth, Singapore-based vice president of equity research at ABN Amro Private Bank, which oversees $20 billion of Asian assets. ``There’s still some uncertainty over how well capital markets will do.’’
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.7 percent to 153.27 as of 1:41 p.m. in Tokyo, snapping a six-day, 3.7 percent advance. The retreat halted a 16 percent rally in the past two months as the Federal Reserve’s bailout of U.S. banks and a surge in commodity companies restored investor confidence in stocks.
All 10 industry groups declined today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.9 percent to 14,140.02. China’s CSI 300 Index dropped 1.4 percent on concern the country’s deadliest earthquake in three decades will erode earnings. All other benchmark indexes in the region declined apart from the Philippines and Thailand.
U.S. financial stocks fell yesterday after Citigroup Inc. lowered its earnings forecast for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and other U.S. brokerages, saying lower fees from trading and underwriting will reduce second-quarter bank earnings.
`Challenging’ Outlook
Macquarie tumbled 5.2 percent to A$62.68, the biggest drop since March 17, after Nicholas Moore, who takes over as chief executive officer on May 24, said the outlook is ``challenging.’’ Net income rose 1.8 percent to A$743 million ($708 million) in the six months ended March 31, missing the A$760 million median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Financial companies also dropped in Australia after the nation’s central bank said it spent ``considerable time’’ discussing the case for a rate increase this month.
``This is very hawkish and the fact they considered a rate rise has given the market a fright,’’ said Sally Auld, an interest-rate strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Sydney.
Babcock & Brown Ltd., an Australian fund manager, fell 3.4 percent to A$15.16.
Developers Ratings
Sumitomo Realty lost 4.2 percent to 2,635 yen, while bigger rival Mitsubishi Estate Co. slipped 3.6 percent to 2,790 yen. Developers posted the biggest drop among 33 industry groups on Japan’s broader Topix index.
Credit Suisse analysts Yoji Otani and Masahiro Mochizuki yesterday cut their rating on Japan’s developers to ``underweight’’ from ``market weight.’’
Samsung, the world’s biggest computer-memory maker, declined 3 percent to 706,000 won in Seoul. Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the second-largest, dropped 3.3 percent to 29,600 won, the most since April 28.
SanDisk Chief Executive Officer Eli Harari said yesterday rising oil prices prompted consumers to tighten their budgets. SanDisk’s memory cards are used in consumer electronics such as digital cameras and media players.
Quake Losses
Sichuan Hongda Chemical Industry Co., China’s third-largest zinc producer, plunged by the daily 10 percent limit to 32.68 yuan as it resumed trading after a five-day halt. The company said the May 12 earthquake that hit China’s southwestern Sichuan province killed 74 employees and caused a loss of 387.7 million yuan ($56 million).
STX Pan Ocean Co., South Korea’s largest shipping line, led gains by dry-bulk operators after rates to transport coal, iron ore and other commodities rose to a record for a third straight day.
STX Pan Ocean advanced 7.3 percent to S$3.98 in Singapore, headed for the highest close since Oct. 30, 2007. Merrill Lynch & Co. raised its price target for the stock by 35 percent to S$5 as it increased profit forecasts. Cosco Corp. Singapore Ltd., the ship-repair and bulk-carrier unit of China’s largest shipping line, gained 2 percent to S$3.63.
The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, rose 2.2 percent yesterday in London due to a shortage of vessels to haul iron ore and coal.
``Shipping lines are rallying as they’re an indirect play on the commodity cycle,’’ said Leslie Phang, Singapore-based head of private client investments at Schroders Plc, which manages $275 billion. ``There may be legs to this rally as they have more pricing power.’’
A measure of raw-materials producers has advanced 29 percent since this year’s low on Jan. 22, the most among MSCI’s Asian 10 industry groups, while energy stocks climbed 28 percent on speculation Chinese and Indian demand for metals and fuel will rise.
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