Asian tech stocks fall

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian technology shares fell, led by Toshiba Corp and Hynix Semiconductor, on lower chip prices. Posco and Baoshan Iron & Steel Co gained after reports in South Korea and China showed the alloy is getting more expensive.

"People were expecting a third-quarter rebound in chip demand, but it hasn't happened," said Ivan Tham, who helps oversee $4 billion at City of London Investment Management Co. in Singapore. "Demand for steel continues to be strong."

Aluminum Corp of China dropped in Hong Kong after Alcoa Inc sold a 7 per cent stake. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co led Japanese drugmakers higher after the Nikkei newspaper said the four largest producers will probably spend more on share buybacks this year.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index rose 0.1 per cent to 150.69 at 5:47 p.m. in Tokyo. A measure of technology stocks slid the most among the benchmark's 10 industry groups. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index gained 0.2 per cent to 15,835.01 while the broader Topix index lost 0.4 per cent.

EUROPE

European stocks declined as crude oil traded near a record and the dollar dropped to its lowest ever against the euro, deepening concern profit growth in the region will slow.

British Airways Plc, Europe's third-largest airline, and French chemical maker Rhodia SA paced losses by companies sensitive to shifts in oil prices. L'Oreal SA led exporters lower. Alcatel-Lucent SA tumbled the most in more than two years after the world's biggest maker of telecommunications equipment cut its 2007 sales forecast. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index lost 0.5 per cent to 367.54, while Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures slipped 0.3 per cent to 1,471.8 as of 10:55 a.m. in London.

US

US stock-index futures fell on concern an expected interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week won't be enough to sustain earnings and economic growth.

Texas Instruments Inc, the world's biggest maker of chips that run mobile phones, and Motorola Inc, the largest US producer of mobile phones, paced a decline of technology shares in Europe. Cisco Systems Inc, the world's No. 1 maker of computer-networking equipment, also retreated.

"The credit crunch is the most pressing problem for the markets at the moment," said Simon Clinch, who helps oversee $4 billion at F&C Asset Management in London. "Even if the Fed does cut interest rates, we're not going to be out of the woods yet."

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 20 to 13,310. Nasdaq-100 Index futures slid 2.25 to 1,994.

Analysts lowered their estimates for third-quarter earnings growth at S&P 500 companies to 3.7 per cent from an average estimate of 5.2 per cent at the start of August, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That would end a streak of 20 straight quarters above 10 per cent.