Asian Stocks Fall on European Debt Concerns, Metal Prices; Newcrest Drops

Asian stocks fell, led by declines in Japan, as metal prices dropped and concern grew that European government finances are worsening.

Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s biggest gold producer, dropped 1.3 percent as gold prices fell. Sony Corp., which gets almost 20 percent of its sales from Europe, lost 0.6 percent as yield spreads showed perceptions of Ireland and Portugal’s creditworthiness are deteriorating. American depositary receipts of HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s largest bank, yesterday closed 0.7 percent lower than its Hong Kong shares.

“Concerns about the global economic outlook haven’t cleared,” said Yasushi Noguchi, a strategist in Tokyo at SMBC Friend Securities Co. “There are still issues related to Europe’s debt.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.3 percent to 126.65 as of 9:52 a.m. in Tokyo. Concerns over European government debt contributed to the gauge slumping 15.7 percent from its 2010 high on April 15 to its low for the year on May 25. The index has since climbed 16.3 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average sank 0.7 percent. Consumer lender Takefuji Corp. was poised to fall on speculation it will file for bankruptcy protection today.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.2 percent and South Korea’s Kospi Index dropped 0.4 percent.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased 0.2 percent. The index dropped 0.6 percent yesterday. Financial companies led the decline as investors speculated that merger talks between M&T Bank Corp. and Banco Santander SA broke down, while the extra yield investors demanded to buy Irish 10-year bonds instead of Germany’s bunds widened to a record yesterday.