Asian stocks declined after News Corp., Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and Isuzu Motors Ltd. cut their profit outlooks, adding to evidence the global economy is headed toward recession.
News Corp. slumped the most since 1990 as tumbling advertising sales led the company to slash its profit forecast. A warning financial results this year will be ``disappointing'' sent Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. 11 percent lower. Isuzu, Japan's largest maker of light-duty trucks, fell after cutting its full- year forecast as a stronger yen reduces the value of overseas earnings. Panasonic Corp. lost 8 percent and Hyundai Motor Co. slipped 6.9 percent on concern slowing U.S. growth will cut demand for televisions, stereos and cars.
``The economic downturn is affecting companies across the board,'' said Nicole Sze, a Singapore-based investment analyst at Bank Julius Baer & Co., which manages $350 billion. ``We're likely to see more downward revisions for earnings forecasts.''
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 5.3 percent to 89.39 as of 11:16 a.m. in Tokyo. Today's decline erased more than half the ground gained during a three-day rally through yesterday.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 5.7 percent to 8,980.18, snapping its best six-day winning streak. Shares fell in all markets open for trading. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 6.2 percent after Dah Sing Banking Group Ltd. issued a profit warning.
The MSCI index advanced 4.6 percent yesterday on speculation Barack Obama's victory in the U.S. presidential election will lead to stronger government measures to stimulate the economy. A worsening credit crisis that eventually toppled Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and arrested growth in economies around the world drove the index down 43 percent this year.
The Asian index is now valued at 1.2 times the value of net assets. It fell below book value on Oct. 27, when the gauge dropped to the lowest since 2003. The average for the past year was 1.7 times, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Slowing Growth
Futures for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index retreated 1.3 percent. U.S. stocks lost 5.3 percent yesterday, with the S&P 500 slipping 5.3 percent, the most in two weeks.
Australian shares in News Corp., the media company controlled by Rupert Murdoch, plunged 18 percent to A$13, the most since December 1990. The company said fiscal 2009 profit will drop by the ``low to mid teens'' in percentage terms, compared with a previous forecast for a gain.
Cathay, Hong Kong's biggest carrier, dropped 11 percent to HK$8.37. This year's earnings will be hurt by weakening revenue and losses on fuel-hedging contracts, which more than quadrupled from the end of September after jet-fuel prices slumped, the company said.
Isuzu tumbled 13 percent to 176 yen. The company said yesterday that annual profit will decline, compared with its previous guidance for an increase. Sales are slowing in Thailand, its biggest overseas market, and a stronger yen is reducing the value of overseas earnings, Isuzu said.
Dah Sing, Panasonic
Dah Sing Banking, the Hong Kong-based bank with potential losses tied to the collapse of Washington Mutual Inc., dropped 8 percent to HK$4.60, while its parent Dah Sing Financial Holdings Ltd. slipped a record 17 percent to HK$18.32. Dah Sing Banking said it expects second-year profit to fall ``substantially.''
Korea Exchange Bank, owned by U.S. buyout fund Lone Star Funds, sank 11 percent to 7,400 won. The company said yesterday that third-quarter profit dropped 22 percent as it set aside more funds for bad loans.
Leighton Holdings Ltd., Australia's largest engineering and construction company, slipped 5.2 percent to A$27.15. The company said a drop in asset values curbed first-quarter profit growth, including a 99.9 percent plunge in the shares of a toll-road building venture with Macquarie Group Ltd.
Panasonic, the world's largest consumer-electronics maker, dropped 8 percent to 1,598 yen in Tokyo. Hyundai Motor Co., which ships three out of five of its cars overseas, declined for the fifth day in Seoul, losing 6.9 percent to 51,000 won.
U.S. Data Worsens
Service industries in the U.S. contracted the most on record to 44.4 last month, below the 47 estimated by economists, according to a report from the Institute for Supply Management. Meanwhile, U.S. companies cut 157,000 jobs in October, the most since November 2002 and bigger than an estimated drop of 102,000, according to ADP Employer Services.
BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's biggest mining company and Australia's largest oil producer, slid 7.3 percent to A$29.29. Inpex Corp., Japan's biggest oil explorer, retreated 9.1 percent to 613,000 yen. Korea Zinc Co., the world's second-biggest zinc refiner, dropped 11 percent to 66,000 won.
Oil for December delivery fell 7.4 percent to $65.30 a barrel in New York yesterday, the biggest drop since Oct. 10, as gasoline inventories rose in the U.S. An index of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange retreated 3.5 percent.
Nippon Steel Corp., the world's second-largest maker of the alloy, lost 7 percent to 330 yen in Tokyo. Posco, Asia's third- largest, slid 6.9 percent to 335,000 won in Seoul.
ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, said yesterday that earnings may decline as much as 48 percent in the fourth quarter.
ABC Learning Centres Ltd., the world's largest child care operator, tumbled 12 percent to 54 Australian cents, the lowest since June 2001. The company said it handed over operations to outside managers after failing to resolve its debt obligations.
News Corp. slumped the most since 1990 as tumbling advertising sales led the company to slash its profit forecast. A warning financial results this year will be ``disappointing'' sent Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. 11 percent lower. Isuzu, Japan's largest maker of light-duty trucks, fell after cutting its full- year forecast as a stronger yen reduces the value of overseas earnings. Panasonic Corp. lost 8 percent and Hyundai Motor Co. slipped 6.9 percent on concern slowing U.S. growth will cut demand for televisions, stereos and cars.
``The economic downturn is affecting companies across the board,'' said Nicole Sze, a Singapore-based investment analyst at Bank Julius Baer & Co., which manages $350 billion. ``We're likely to see more downward revisions for earnings forecasts.''
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 5.3 percent to 89.39 as of 11:16 a.m. in Tokyo. Today's decline erased more than half the ground gained during a three-day rally through yesterday.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 5.7 percent to 8,980.18, snapping its best six-day winning streak. Shares fell in all markets open for trading. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 6.2 percent after Dah Sing Banking Group Ltd. issued a profit warning.
The MSCI index advanced 4.6 percent yesterday on speculation Barack Obama's victory in the U.S. presidential election will lead to stronger government measures to stimulate the economy. A worsening credit crisis that eventually toppled Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and arrested growth in economies around the world drove the index down 43 percent this year.
The Asian index is now valued at 1.2 times the value of net assets. It fell below book value on Oct. 27, when the gauge dropped to the lowest since 2003. The average for the past year was 1.7 times, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Slowing Growth
Futures for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index retreated 1.3 percent. U.S. stocks lost 5.3 percent yesterday, with the S&P 500 slipping 5.3 percent, the most in two weeks.
Australian shares in News Corp., the media company controlled by Rupert Murdoch, plunged 18 percent to A$13, the most since December 1990. The company said fiscal 2009 profit will drop by the ``low to mid teens'' in percentage terms, compared with a previous forecast for a gain.
Cathay, Hong Kong's biggest carrier, dropped 11 percent to HK$8.37. This year's earnings will be hurt by weakening revenue and losses on fuel-hedging contracts, which more than quadrupled from the end of September after jet-fuel prices slumped, the company said.
Isuzu tumbled 13 percent to 176 yen. The company said yesterday that annual profit will decline, compared with its previous guidance for an increase. Sales are slowing in Thailand, its biggest overseas market, and a stronger yen is reducing the value of overseas earnings, Isuzu said.
Dah Sing, Panasonic
Dah Sing Banking, the Hong Kong-based bank with potential losses tied to the collapse of Washington Mutual Inc., dropped 8 percent to HK$4.60, while its parent Dah Sing Financial Holdings Ltd. slipped a record 17 percent to HK$18.32. Dah Sing Banking said it expects second-year profit to fall ``substantially.''
Korea Exchange Bank, owned by U.S. buyout fund Lone Star Funds, sank 11 percent to 7,400 won. The company said yesterday that third-quarter profit dropped 22 percent as it set aside more funds for bad loans.
Leighton Holdings Ltd., Australia's largest engineering and construction company, slipped 5.2 percent to A$27.15. The company said a drop in asset values curbed first-quarter profit growth, including a 99.9 percent plunge in the shares of a toll-road building venture with Macquarie Group Ltd.
Panasonic, the world's largest consumer-electronics maker, dropped 8 percent to 1,598 yen in Tokyo. Hyundai Motor Co., which ships three out of five of its cars overseas, declined for the fifth day in Seoul, losing 6.9 percent to 51,000 won.
U.S. Data Worsens
Service industries in the U.S. contracted the most on record to 44.4 last month, below the 47 estimated by economists, according to a report from the Institute for Supply Management. Meanwhile, U.S. companies cut 157,000 jobs in October, the most since November 2002 and bigger than an estimated drop of 102,000, according to ADP Employer Services.
BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's biggest mining company and Australia's largest oil producer, slid 7.3 percent to A$29.29. Inpex Corp., Japan's biggest oil explorer, retreated 9.1 percent to 613,000 yen. Korea Zinc Co., the world's second-biggest zinc refiner, dropped 11 percent to 66,000 won.
Oil for December delivery fell 7.4 percent to $65.30 a barrel in New York yesterday, the biggest drop since Oct. 10, as gasoline inventories rose in the U.S. An index of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange retreated 3.5 percent.
Nippon Steel Corp., the world's second-largest maker of the alloy, lost 7 percent to 330 yen in Tokyo. Posco, Asia's third- largest, slid 6.9 percent to 335,000 won in Seoul.
ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, said yesterday that earnings may decline as much as 48 percent in the fourth quarter.
ABC Learning Centres Ltd., the world's largest child care operator, tumbled 12 percent to 54 Australian cents, the lowest since June 2001. The company said it handed over operations to outside managers after failing to resolve its debt obligations.
