Asia slips on US data

GLOBAL MARKETS/ STOCK REPORT

Asian stocks fell to a seven-week low, led by mining companies and automakers, after surprise job losses in the US heightened concern the world's biggest economy is in recession.

Toyota Motor, which got 37 per cent of its sales from North America last financial year, retreated after the yen climbed to an eight-year high.

BHP Billiton, the world's biggest mining company, declined on concern that demand for metals will weaken. Malaysia's stock benchmark tumbled the most since 1998 after Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's coalition lost its two- thirds majority in parliament.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slumped 1.5 per cent to 137.52 at 6:18 pm in Tokyo, the lowest since January 23. The gauge is down 13 per cent this year amid fears of mounting credit-market losses and a US recession that have wiped about $5 trillion from global stock markets.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 2 per cent to 12,532.13, while China's CSI 300 Index dropped 4.1 per cent to a seven-month low. All regional markets retreated apart from Hong Kong. Eight of the MSCI benchmark's 10 industry groups declined today.

EUROPE
European stock-index futures retreated, following a drop in US and Asian markets, as Merrill Lynch recommended selling Natixis shares and the Sonntag newspaper said UBS faces further writedowns.

UBS, Europe's biggest bank by assets, and Credit Suisse Group, Switzerland's second-largest bank, may pace a decline among financial companies.

Futures on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the euro region, lost 17 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 3,555 as of 7:37 am in London.

Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index is down 16 per cent this year on concern the collapse of US subprime mortgages.

US
US stock-index futures were little changed as declines by Countrywide Financial and Fannie Mae offset speculation that the Federal Reserve will accelerate interest-rate cuts to spur economic growth.

Countrywide dropped in Germany. The mortgage lender is under investigation by FBI for possible securities fraud, according to a person familiar with the probe.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in March added 0.3 points to 1,293.1 at 9:32 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 3 to 11,888. Nasdaq-100 Index futures gained 1 to 1,709.75.

The S&P 500 last week fell to the lowest since 2006 after record home foreclosures and an unexpected drop in payrolls heightened concern the economy is in a recession.