Asian Stocks Decline on Capital Concerns; T&D, Brambles Slump

Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell, led by finance and commodity companies, amid concern insurers may have to boost capital reserves and as metals prices and shipping rates declined.

T&D Holdings Inc., Japan’s largest publicly traded life insurer, plunged 9.7 percent, as the U.K.’s Financial Services Authority asked the industry to assess how well they can withstand market shocks. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, fell 0.7 percent in Sydney as copper retreated. Brambles Ltd., the world’s biggest supplier of pallets used to move and store goods, tumbled 9.4 percent after a drop in profit prompted brokerage downgrades.

“In the current market climate, there is little incentive for investors to buy stocks,” Mamoru Shimode, a Tokyo-based equity strategist at Deutsche Bank AG, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.8 percent to 80.58 as of 10:10 a.m. in Tokyo. Five stocks dropped for every two that advanced. The gauge has lost 10 percent this year, extending 2008’s record 43 percent tumble, as the credit crisis dragged the world’s biggest economies into recession.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.8 percent to 7,690.02. Benchmark measures in other Asian markets open for trading also fell. Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 1.1 percent. U.S. markets were closed yesterday for Presidents’ Day.

T&D slumped 9.7 percent to 2,010 yen, tracking an 11 percent drop by the U.K.’s Legal & General Group Plc, which declined on speculation the 173-year-old British insurer may have to cut its dividend to boost capital reserves.

Broker Downgrades

BHP lost 0.7 percent to A$31.91. A measure of six primary metals traded in London fell 2.4 percent, with copper losing 2.9 percent. The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, dropped 3.2 percent on lower rates to haul coal and iron ore for steel production.

Brambles tumbled 9.4 percent to A$5.12. The stock was downgraded at Merrill Lynch & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Macquarie Group Ltd. a day after the company reported a 28 percent decline in first- half profit.