Asian stocks slide

GLOBAL MARKET

Asian stocks posted the biggest drop in two weeks after NEC Electronics Corp said its third-quarter loss widened and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co had its first profit decline in five quarters.

"The latest string of corporate earnings has been lacklustre, if not disappointing," said Sam Hsieh, who helps oversee $275 million as head of research at Fuh-Hwa Investment Trust Co in Taiwan.

"Evidence of a reversal of this trend would be needed to excite investors," Hsieh said. Mizuho Financial Group Inc led a slide by Japanese banks after consumer prices rose less than estimated in December.

That made it less likely that the central bank will raise interest rates, which would enable lenders to charge more for loans. China Minsheng Banking Corp led a 2.5 per cent increase in the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index after Shenzhen Development Bank Co said profit more than quadrupled last year.

The index had earlier tumbled as much as 3.9 per cent on concern that the rally, which saw it more than double in the past year, was excessive. The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index dropped 0.8 per cent to 140.71 at 6:08 pm in Tokyo, its biggest slide since January 10. It added 0.3 per cent this week.

US stocks fell yesterday, posting the biggest losses in two months.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average slid 0.2 per cent while the Broader Topix index lost 0.1 per cent. Indexes in markets open for trading fell, except in China and Pakistan. The Philippines Composite Index slumping 3.4 per cent, the region's biggest drop. Australia and India are closed for holidays today.

EC Electronics PetroChina Co fell after the US energy companies' reported results which disappointed investors amid a drop in oil prices. In the US, the Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 1.1 per cent while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.9 per cent, the most since November 27.

Energy and pharmaceutical companies reported quarterly results which disappointed investors and existing home sales dropped more than economists' forecast. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Information Technology Index dropped 1.6 per cent, the biggest slide among the broader measure's 10 industry groups.

NEC Electronics, Japan's No 3 maker of semiconductors, said third-quarter net loss widened to ¥5.8 billion ($48 million) from ¥2.56 billion a year earlier, because of rising costs for research and development and other expenses. The results were released yesterday after the close of trading.