Asian scrips plunge

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks declined the most in almost two weeks, led by utility companies, after Korea Electric Power Corp posted an unexpected loss and investors considered Tokyo Electric Power Co's recent gain to be excessive.

"Power companies have risen too much and are becoming less attractive,'' said Naoki Fujiwara, who oversees $720 million in assets at Shinkin Asset Management Co in Tokyo. "Money is shifting out of power companies into other shares with higher dividend yields.''

BHP Billiton and PetroChina Co dropped after prices of metals and crude oil declined. Higher profits drove gains in shares of Esprit Holdings and Chugai Pharmaceutical Co.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index lost 0.5 per cent to 142.50 at 5:55 pm in Tokyo, its steepest decline since January 26. A measure of utilities, the biggest gainers this year, lost 2.5 per cent, the largest drop among the gauge's 10 industry groups today.

Japan's Topix index slid 0.5 per cent, while the Nikkei 225 Stock Average was little changed. Thailand's SET Index rose 2.4 per cent, the region's biggest gain. Other benchmarks fell, except in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Pakistan.

The Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index added 1.7 per cent after the Shanghai Securities News reported the government may allow insurers to buy more equities.

US

US stock and index futures fell on concern slowing profit growth will stall a rally that has sent the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to a six-year high. PepsiCo and Toll Brothers are among companies reporting earnings.

S&P 500 Index futures expiring in March slid 1.3 to 1454.4 at 9:37 am in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 3 to 12,707. Nasdaq-100 Index futures lost 2.5 to 1820.5.

Europe

European stocks snapped a five-day winning streak after HSBC Holdings said it's setting aside more for loan losses and Unilever reported fourth-quarter sales that missed analysts' estimates. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index slipped 0.1 per cent to 381.29 as of 8:34 am in London. The Stoxx 50 lost 0.2 per cent and the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the 13 nations sharing the euro, decreased less than 0.1 per cent.

HSBC, Europe's largest bank, said yesterday it's puttting aside 20 per cent more than analysts estimated for bad loans in 2006 because its US mortgage business is deteriorating.