Asia snaps 3-day gains

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks fell, snapping a three-day advance, after slides in US home sales and consumer confidence fuelled concern demand for exports will cool.

The Kospi index retreated 0.7 per cent in South Korea, where a central bank report today showed the economy grew 0.9 per cent in the first quarter, matching economist estimates. Bank shares led China's CSI 300 Index to a third consecutive record after China Minsheng Banking Corp reported a surge in profit.

The MSCI's regional index lost 0.6 per cent to 146.85 as of 5:55 pm in Tokyo, erasing gains over the past three days. Benchmarks declined in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, while Australia and New Zealand were closed for holidays.

Toyota, which overtook General Motors Corp to become the world's largest automaker in the first quarter, fell 1.9 per cent to 7,230 yen. Samsung, Asia's largest maker of chips, flat screens and mobile phones, slid 1.2 per cent to 564,000 won.

KDDI dropped 5.6 per cent to 936,000 yen, set for the biggest decline since October 24. It reported a fourth-quarter net loss of 4.3 billion yen ($36.3 million), compared with net income of 32.6 billion yen a year earlier, after writing down part of the value of an older wireless network scheduled to be shut next year.

US

US stocks gained, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 13,000 for the first time, on expectations earnings will keep beating analysts' estimates. The Dow industrials increased 52.33, or 0.4 per cent, to 13,006.27 as of 9:40 am in New York. The S&P 500 added 6.52, or 0.4 per cent, to 1,486.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 7.49, or 0.3 per cent, to 2,532.03. The Dow reached the 13,000 milestone 128 trading days after breaching 12,000, about 15 times faster than the previous thousand-point advance.

Europe

European stocks rose for the first time in three days on increased takeover speculation. The Stoxx 600 added 0.7 per cent to 387.98 at 2:39 pm in London. The Stoxx 50 gained 0.5 per cent, and the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the 13 nations sharing the euro, rose 0.9 per cent.

National benchmarks rose in 17 of 18 western European markets. The UK's FTSE gained 0.6 per cent, and Germany's DAX added 1 per cent. France's CAC 40 climbed 1.2 per cent. Shares of ABN Amro rallied 3.8 per cent to 36.33 euros. Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander Central Hispano and Fortis bid 39 euros a share to buy the Dutch bank.

Royal Bank offered 70 per cent in cash and 30 per cent in its shares.

The UK bank is seeking to trump the bid that ABN Amro agreed to accept from rival Barclays on April 23. Barclays offered 3.225 new shares for each share of ABN Amro, amounting to 36.25 euros a share as of April 20.

Royal Bank shares slipped 1.9 per cent to 1,974 pence, while Barclays gained 2.3 per cent to 729 pence.

Sainsbury, the third-biggest UK supermarket company, jumped 7.5 per cent to 569.5 pence after a block of about 249 million shares traded at 575 pence each before the market opened.