Asian Stocks Retreat on U.S. Bank Concerns, Record Oil Prices

By Chen Shiyin

July 14 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell for the first time in four days as U.S. regulators seized mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc. and crude oil prices climbed to a record.

Macquarie Group Ltd. and Kookmin Bank led declines among banks. Canon Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. dropped after crude oil prices rose above $147 a barrel on July 11, renewing speculation higher fuel costs will dent consumer spending. Posco advanced in Seoul after the steelmaker reported a 34 percent increase in profit.

The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index lost 0.4 percent to 133.02 at 9:20 a.m. Tokyo time, halting a three-day, 2.4 percent rally. About five stocks retreated for every four that rose on the index, which has dropped 16 percent this year.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 0.1 percent to 13,023.48. Benchmark indexes also retreated in Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.

U.S. markets fell on July 11, extending the longest stretch of weekly losses for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index since 2004, as growing concern about the health of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sent bank shares to an 11-year low.

Crude oil for August delivery jumped as much as 4 percent to a record $147.27 a barrel on July 11 after the dollar fell and the Jerusalem Post said Israeli war planes practiced over Iraq for an attack on Iran's nuclear research facility. Futures were at $143.36 today.

To contact the reporter for this story: Chen Shiyin in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net.