Asian Stocks Fall on Doubts U.S. Stimulus Will Revive Growth

By Jonathan Burgos and Patrick Rial

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell for a fourth day, led by financial and consumer-related companies, on concern U.S. measures to alleviate the financial crisis won’t be enough to revive the world’s largest economy.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Ltd., Japan’s biggest lender, fell 3.1 percent as U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he needs time to work out details of a bank-rescue plan unveiled on Feb. 10. Daikin Industries Ltd., the biggest Japanese maker of air conditioners, dropped 2.9 percent after cutting its profit forecast. Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s largest gold producer, rose 4.6 percent after gold futures climbed in New York.

“The market had been awaiting the financial bailout plan with high hopes, but what was announced didn’t have much meat on the bone,” Juichi Wako, a strategist at Tokyo-based Nomura Securities Co., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “It’s unfortunate, but stocks are in for a rough day.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.8 percent to 82.29 at 10:42 a.m. in Tokyo. More than two stocks advanced for each one that declined. The gauge has lost 8.2 percent this year, furthering a record 43 percent tumble in 2008, as the credit crisis triggered by the collapse of the U.S. housing market spun into a global recession.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slumped 1.7 percent, to 7,814.01. The Japanese market resumed trading today following yesterday’s holiday. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 1.6 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi index slipped 0.8 percent.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed. The index gained 0.8 percent yesterday as Congress debated a $789 billion spending plan. U.S. House and Senate lawmakers agreed on a compromise late yesterday, a smaller bill than those originally approved by both groups.

Stimulus Agreement

Geithner announced two days ago a financial rescue plan that included as much as $2 trillion in funding for programs aimed at spurring new lending and addressing banks’ illiquid assets. The U.S. government was going to proceed “carefully” on the proposal, Geithner told Congress yesterday.

Governments around the world are stepping up efforts to revive global growth that the International Monetary Fund predicted two weeks ago will grind almost to a halt this year. The Bank of Korea cut its benchmark interest rate today to a record-low 2 percent to revive an economy headed for the first recession in more than a decade.

Mitsubishi UFJ fell 3.1 percent to 470 yen in Tokyo. Toyota Motor Corp., which makes 37 percent of its sales in North America, dropped 2.6 percent to 3,060 yen.

Daikin fell 2.9 percent to 2,165 yen after it cut its profit forecast by 59 percent for the year ending March 31 as the slumping global economy dragged sales.

Newcrest Mining climbed 4.6 percent to A$33.83. Gold futures in New York jumped 3.3 percent yesterday, extending the previous day’s 2.4 percent advance. Silver and platinum jumped to four- month highs.

To contact the reporters for this story: Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at jburgos4@bloomberg.net; Patrick Rial in Tokyo at prial@bloomberg.net.