Dec. 22 -- Asian stocks fell for a second week, led by exporters and financial firms on concern losses linked to U.S. subprime mortgages will spread and damp growth in the region's biggest export market.
Toyota Motor Corp. declined after U.S. retail sales slumped and homebuilder confidence remained at a low. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Commonwealth Bank of Australia dropped and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it was ``cautious'' about the outlook for its own business.
``Slowing U.S. demand will hurt Asian exporters as well as other industries because of the massiveness of the U.S. economy,'' said Kevin Yang, president of Paradigm Asset Management Co., which oversees $360 million in assets in Taipei.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 2.1 percent this week to 153.47. It lost 4.7 percent last week after a U.S. interest- rate cut failed to ease concerns that the U.S. may slide into a recession. For the year, the measure is up 9.2 percent, set for its smallest annual gain in five years.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.7 percent to 15,257.00. Benchmarks around the region declined this week, except in Vietnam, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Taiwan's Taiex index, which fell 2.2 percent this week, was as much as 20 percent lower than this year's closing high on Oct. 29, a decline widely regarded as signaling a bear market.
Toyota, which makes about a third of its sales in North America, lost 1.2 percent to 6,020 yen. Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea's biggest exporter, fell 3.6 percent to 560,000 won.
Homebuilder confidence stayed at a record low in the U.S. and manufacturing in New York expanded this month at the slowest pace since May. Retailers' sales slid 0.4 percent in the seven days through Dec. 15 from a year earlier, the third straight weekly decrease, Chicago-based ShopperTrak RCT Corp. said.
'Lots of Nervousness'
Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's largest bank by assets, lost 3.1 percent to 1,041 yen. Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the second- biggest, dropped 4.3 percent to 537,000 yen. Commonwealth Bank, the second-largest in Australia, slipped 4.9 percent to A$57.77.
Goldman Sachs, the world's largest securities firm, said on Dec. 18 it was ``cautious about the near-term outlook'' after rising defaults in U.S. subprime mortgages and the subsequent reduction in available credit cut profits at other financial companies and retailers.
``There's lots of nervousness around issues to do with the ability to refinance debt, and in the short term that hurts banks the most,'' said Michael Birch, who helps manage the equivalent of about $140 million at Wallace Funds Management in Sydney.
Separately, Japan's three biggest lenders refused a request by U.S. banks to provide $5 billion each to a subprime-asset bailout fund, the Nikkei newspaper said, without saying where it got the information. Mitsubishi spokesman Yusuke Fukui said the company is still considering the request.
Sinoma Jumps in Debut
Taiwan's Taiex ended the week 19 percent lower than this year's closing high. The index's gain of 1.5 percent this year makes it Asia's fourth-worst performer, behind Japan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
``This is certainly a bear market,'' said Michael On, who oversees $100 million as managing director at Beyond Asset Management Co. in Taipei. ``To many people it may feel like the world is crashing. Stocks have more to fall before the condition of the global economy becomes clear.''
NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's biggest wireless operator by subscribers, rose 2.8 percent to 184,000 yen after the Wall Street Journal said the company is in talks with Apple Inc. to sell the iPhone.
China National Materials Co., or Sinoma, surged 66 percent from the offering price to HK$7.49 in its first week of trading. The world's largest provider of cement-making gear, whose shares began trading on Dec. 20, raised about HK$3.86 billion ($495 million) from the sale.
Anhui Conch Cement Co., China's biggest maker of the material, gained 15 percent to HK$68.00 in Hong Kong after investors who missed out of Sinoma's initial public offering bought the nation's biggest cement makers.
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