Asian stocks fell for the first time in four days as the yen rose toward a post-World War II high and two Federal Reserve officials said they opposed a pledge to keep U.S. interest rates at record lows.
Honda Motor Co., a carmaker that gets about 83 percent of sales overseas, lost 1.6 percent in Tokyo as the yen’s advance threatened the earnings outlook for Japan’s exporters. Sony Corp. (6758), Japan’s biggest exporter of consumer electronics, dropped 1.7 percent. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), Australia’s biggest oil producer, sank 1 percent in Sydney as crude prices dropped.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.6 percent to 124.51 as of 10:27 a.m. in Tokyo. Almost five stocks dropped for every three that advanced on the gauge, which gained 2.8 percent in the past three days.
“The fear is that if you remove all stimulatory measures, the U.S. economy may sink,” said Jason Teh, who helps manage about $3 billion at Investors Mutual Ltd. in Sydney. “The U.S. economy is so important for global growth, and so talk about whether there’s going to be more stimulus or less stimulus will have an impact on the perception of stock-market investors.”
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.6 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi Index (KOSPI) sank 1 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 0.7 percent.
Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.5 percent today. The stock gauge added 0.1 percent yesterday.
‘Inappropriate Policy’
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s pledge last week to keep interest rates near zero until mid-2013 was “inappropriate policy at an inappropriate time,” Charles Plosser, president of the Fed Bank of Philadelphia, said yesterday in a Bloomberg radio interview. Dallas President Richard Fisher said the central bank shouldn’t enact policy to protect stock investors. Both officials dissented from the Fed’s Aug. 9 statement.
“People are trying to identify what measures will be taken while sentiment is worsening globally, so the market will lack direction,” said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees about $600 million in Tokyo at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. “Concerns persist that the yen may strengthen further.”
Source: bloomberg.com