Asian Stocks Fall as Europe Woes Deepen, U.S. Home Sales Drop

Asian Stocks Fall as Europe Woes Deepen, U.S. Home Sales Drop

Bloomberg (28/3) - Asian stocks fell on concern Europe’s debt crisis is deepening and after pending U.S. home sales fell, damping earnings prospects for Asian exporters. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.3 percent to 135.69 as of 9:51 a.m. in Tokyo before markets in Hong Kong and China opened. About two stocks fell for each that gained on the measure, which rose 0.4 percent yesterday. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 5.2 percent this year through yesterday on improving U.S. economic data and speculation that Japan will deploy more stimulus. The Asia benchmark traded at 15.1 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 14.1 times for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 12.6 times for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Japan’s Topix Index (TPX) fell 0.6 percent as the Finance Ministry reported foreign investors sold a net 267.6 billion yen ($2.8 billion) of Japanese shares last week. South Korea’s Kospi Index was little changed as data showed the nation’s current account surplus widened in February. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.1 percent and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index slid 0.1 percent. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-28/asian-stocks-fall-as-europe-woes-deepen-u-s-home-sales-drop.html