Asian Stocks Decline on Australian Retail Sales, Commodities

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks dropped, dragging the MSCI Asia Pacific Index lower for the first time in three days, after Australian retail sales unexpectedly fell in December and commodity prices declined.

BHP Billiton Ltd., Australia’s biggest oil producer and the world’s biggest mining company, dropped 1.5 percent in Sydney after oil and metal prices declined. CSR Ltd., Australia’s second-largest building-products maker, tumbled 6 percent after the Federal Court of Australia blocked its plan to separate its sugar business. Honda Motor Co. rose 2.7 percent in Tokyo after boosting its profit forecast.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.4 percent to 118.06 as of 9:52 a.m. in Tokyo, snapping a two-day, 1.9 percent gain. The gauge sank 3 percent last month, the most since February last year, on concern central banks from China to India will tighten monetary policy to curb inflation.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 0.3 percent to 10,370.65. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 0.9 percent as a government report showed the country’s retail sales fell in December for the first time in five months. A Bloomberg economist survey had projected an increase. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.1 percent.

Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed. The gauge sank 0.6 percent yesterday as a gauge of the country’s service industries expanded less than forecast and Pfizer Inc.’s profit trailed estimates.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 34 percent last year, outpacing gains of 23 percent by the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in the U.S. and 28 percent for Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index. Companies in the MSCI index trade at 18.9 times estimated earnings, compared with 14.1 times for the S&P 500 and 12.5 times for the Stoxx 600.