Asia down on profit worry

GLOBAL MARKETS/ STOCK REPORT

Asian stocks fell for the first time in four days as lower profit forecasts from Yamaha Motor and Olympus and a downgrade of Posco fueled concerns that regional earnings growth will slow.

Olympus, Japan's third-largest maker of digital cameras, plunged the most in six years after joining more than a dozen Asian companies that have forecast lower profit in the past week. Posco, Asia's third-largest steelmaker, slid after Goldman Sachs advised selling the stock as global growth slows.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.7 per cent to 147.22 at 5:20 pm in Tokyo, halting a three-day, 5 per cent rally that lifted the benchmark yesterday to the highest since January 15.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 0.8 per cent to 13,745.50. The S&P/ASX 200 Index declined in Australia, where the central bank raised interest rates to an 11-year high on Tuesday.

Benchmarks retreated in most other markets open for trading. China's CSI 300 Index, which had a record jump yesterday, fell 0.6 per cent on its last day of trading before the Lunar New Year holiday. EUROPE
European stock-index futures declined after US and Asian equities retreated.

Northern Rock will probably fall after Virgin Group reduced its takeover offer for the bank and Luqman Arnold's Olivant Advisers withdrew from the contest. BP may be active after Europe's second-biggest oil company posted profit that missed analyst estimates.

Futures on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the euro region, lost 11 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 3,872 at 7:41 am in London.

"We are calling the European markets down," said Manus Cranny, an analyst at Cantor Index in London. "People are still concerned about growth." US
US stock futures were little changed as a forecast cut from National Semiconductor Corporation, which makes chips for Apple's iPhone, offset analyst upgrades of homebuilders at Bank of America.

Intel, the world's largest computer-chip maker, and International Business Machines (IBM) dropped in Germany after National Semiconductor reduced its sales forecast and ARM Holdings, which designs chips for Intel, said it was "cautious" about 2008.

Standard and Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in March added 0.6 points to 1,379.4 at 10:48 a.m. in London. Dow Industrial Average futures gained 4 points to 12,616.

US stocks yesterday snapped a two-day advance after analysts told investors to sell American Express, Wells Fargo and Wachovia on concern a recession will worsen defaults among consumers.