Asian stocks cool off

GLOBAL MARKETS/ STOCK REPORT

Asian stocks fell for the first time in four days after writedowns by UBS AG raised concern losses from US sub-prime investments will widen.

Bank of China and HSBC Holdings led banks lower after UBS said it will write down assets by $10 billion and sell stakes to raise capital. PetroChina and Inpex Holdings led a drop among oil shares after crude fell below $88 a barrel.

More than two stocks declined for each that gained on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which fell 0.6 per cent to 163.59 as of 19:07 pm in Tokyo after a three-day, 1.4 per cent rally. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average retreated 0.2 per cent to 15,924.39.

China's CSI 300 Index was Asia's biggest gainer after China Petroleum & Chemical Corp's parent signed a $2 billion agreement to develop an Iranian oil field and Aluminum Corp of China said it received conditional approval for a takeover.

EUROPE
European stocks advanced, led by builders and airlines, after Lafarge said it planned to buy a unit of Orascom Construction Industries and UBS AG recommended shares of Air France-KLM Group and EasyJet.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 0.5 per cent to 374.87 at 9:45 am in London. The Stoxx 50 gained 0.4 per cent, while the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the euro region, rose 0.2 per cent.

National benchmarks gained in 11 of the 17 western European markets that were open. The UK's FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 both advanced 0.2 per cent. Germany's DAX rose 0.3 per cent.

Lafarge, the world's biggest cement maker, surged 7.9 per cent to 116.20 euros on plans to buy the unit for 8.8 billion euros ($12.9 billion), becoming the biggest producer in Egypt, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates.

US
US stock-index futures were little changed before a report on pending home sales that will provide further clues about the extent of the housing slump.

JPMorgan Chase advanced in Europe after Barron's reported the bank is in a better position to withstand credit- market turmoil. Apple declined after Financial Times Deutschland said T-Mobile is selling fewer iPhones in Germany than its internal forecasts. Amazon.com and EBay fell as online sales growth in the US slowed.

Standard and Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in December added 0.70 points to 1,508 as of 9:53 am in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 4 points to 13,654. Nasdaq-100 Index futures gained 2.50 points to 2,134.50.

US stocks fell for the first time in three days December 7 as a better-than-expected employment report tempered speculation the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 0.5 percentage point at its meeting this week.