Asian stocks pare gains

GLOBAL MARKETS/ STOCK REPORT

Asian stocks fell for the first time in five days, led by automakers and banks, on concern that the US economy is deteriorating as credit market losses widen.

Toyota Motor, which gets 37 per cent of its sales from North America, slumped after US durable-goods orders dropped. Baoshan Iron & Steel led China's CSI 300 Index to an eight-month low after reporting lower profit.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.8 per cent to 140.29 as of 7:24 pm in Tokyo. Speculation the US will limit credit market losses contributed to a 5.3 per cent advance in the benchmark in the previous four days. It has tumbled 11 per cent this year and is now valued at 14 times reported earnings, compared with 20 times for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average retreated 0.8 per cent to 12,604.58, its biggest decline since March 17. China's CSI 300 slumped 4.2 per cent, the most in Asia on Thursday. About half the region's benchmarks fell.

Elpida Memory, Japan's largest maker of computer-memory chips, tumbled the most in two weeks after the Nikkei newspaper said Hitachi will sell its stake in the company. South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor slumped after a US federal court ruled yesterday that Rambus won the final phase of a patent suit against the company. EUROPE
European stocks rose as better-than-expected earnings from Hennes & Mauritz AB and positive outlooks from Man Group and Q-Cells helped shore up confidence that companies' earnings may weather an economic slowdown.

Hennes & Mauritz, Europe's second-biggest clothing retailer, climbed. Man Group, the world's largest publicly traded hedge fund manager, said rising fees would underpin annual earnings, while Q-Cells AG gained after Germany's largest solar-energy company said it expects full-year sales to climb more than it had previously forecast.

US
US stock-index futures rose as investors speculated reports on Thursday may show economic growth and consumer spending were stable in the fourth quarter of 2007. Coca-Cola Co, the world's largest soft-drink maker, and Wal-Mart Stores gained in Europe.

Cisco Systems Inc. climbed after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. added shares of the biggest maker of computer-networking equipment to its "conviction buy" list. Exxon Mobil increased with crude prices.