Asian Commodity Stocks Fall, Led by BHP Billiton; Toyota Climbs

By Chua Kong Ho

Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Asian commodity stocks fell after copper declined and gold dropped below $800 an ounce. Toyota Motor Corp., Asia's largest automaker, advanced after expressing confidence in the U.S. truck market.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's largest mining company, slipped after saying production at its Chilean copper mine declined 4.4 percent in the first half of the year. Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia's largest gold mining company, fell. Toyota, Asia's largest automaker, rose for the first time in four days after saying the U.S. truck market remains ``viable.'' Shipping lines climbed, led by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., after commodity cargo fees increased the most since Jan. 30.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.1 percent to 125.50 as of 9:26 a.m. in Tokyo, with seven of the 10 industry groups lower. The measure is headed for a 1.4 percent decline this week.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.4 percent to 13,002.39. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.2 percent.

U.S. stocks rose for the first time in three days yesterday after a trade group loosened restrictions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to help revive the mortgage industry. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures gained 0.2 percent.

Copper dropped 1.4 percent to $3.305 a pound in New York. Gold for immediate delivery fell $8.38 to $798.25 an ounce in Asian trading. The Baltic Dry Index, which tracks transport costs of raw commodities on international trade routes, surged 4.6 percent to 7,420, the biggest gain since Jan. 30.

To contact the reporter for this story: Chua Kong Ho in Shanghai at kchua6@bloomberg.net