Wilting dollar dents Asia

GLOBAL MARKETS/ STOCK REPORT

Asian stocks fell the most in almost a week on concern widening credit losses and a slump in the dollar will dent earnings among the region's banks and exporters.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia led declines among banks after a Carlyle Group fund failed to reorganise its debt and Shinsei Bank cut its profit forecast. Toyota Motor, which gets 58 per cent of its sales outside of Asia, dropped in Tokyo as the dollar fell close to 100 yen, the lowest since 1995.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 2.1 per cent to 137.53 as of 5:33 pm in Tokyo, the biggest drop since March 7. All 10 of the gauge's industry groups declined, with nine stocks dropping for each one that climbed.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 3.3 per cent to 12,433.44, the lowest since August 31, 2005. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped 4.8 per cent, the most in five weeks, after an influenza outbreak triggered the closure of primary schools and kindergartens. Most markets in Asia declined. EUROPE
European stock-index futures dropped after Carlyle Group's mortgage-bond fund said it will default on its remaining debt and the dollar traded at a record low against the euro. HBOS, the UK's biggest mortgage lender, and Credit Suisse Group may lead banks lower.

Futures on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the euro region, sank 60, or 1.7 per cent, to 3,583 as of 7:32 am in London. The UK's FTSE 100 Index may drop 82, according to Cantor Index, a betting firm.

UniCredit SpA may be active after Italy's biggest bank said fourth-quarter profit declined less than 1 percent to 1.23 billion euros ($1.91 billion) on costs related to the acquisition of Capitalia SpA and a slowdown at the company's investment-banking unit. The bank had 1.2 billion euros of integration costs related to last year's purchase of Capitalia. US
US stock-index futures slumped after Carlyle Group's mortgage-bond fund failed to reach an agreement to refinance debt, spurring concern losses in credit markets will deepen.

Citigroup and the Bank of America dropped in Europe after Carlyle's fund said lenders will ``promptly'' take over all of its remaining assets.

Futures indicated the Standard & Poor's 500 Index would retreat for a second day, after the Federal Reserve's plan to pump as much as $200 billion into the financial system had sparked the biggest rally in five years.

S&P 500 futures expiring in March dropped 17.1, or 1.3 per cent, to 1,292.2 at 9:24 am in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 144 to 11,980. Nasdaq-100 Index futures declined 23 to 1,711.75.