Asian Stocks Retreat as U.S. Debt Committee Said to Be Close to Failure

By Nick Gentle - Nov 21, 2011 7:33 AM GMT+0700

Asian stocks fell for a fifth day amid concern a U.S. congressional committee will fail to agree ways to cut the nation’s indebtedness and as Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann said Europe needs a “firewall” to contain its debt crisis.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index retreated 0.5 percent to 113.67, on track for its longest streak of losses since August. Almost two stocks fell for each that rose on the gauge.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net