Asia Stocks Post First Yearly Loss Since ?ˉ08 on Debt, Tightening
2012-1-1 0:00:00Author： adminFont Size：Big Medium Small
SHANGHAI, Dec.30 - Asian stocks posted their first annual decline in three years as sovereign-debt concerns in Europe and the U.S. further cut into an earnings outlook eroded by China’s efforts to fight inflation and Japan’s record quake.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2 percent this week, taking its annual drop to 23.8 percent, as energy, financial and raw material companies declined. Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility at the center of the worst nuclear accident in 25 years, retreated 18 percent, extending its 2011 slide to 91 percent amid speculation the company may be nationalized. China Mengniu Dairy Co., the country’s biggest producer of milk, fell 31 percent after a cancer-causing toxin was found in a batch of its products.
Stocks fell this week as the publication of lending statistics by the European Central Bank underscored the magnitude of the region’s debt crisis and as China’s manufacturing contracted for a second month. Losses were tempered by better-than-estimated reports on pending home sales, consumer confidence and durable-goods orders in the U.S.
“This year, the world was swayed by the European debt crisis,” said Takashi Aoki, who helps manage the equivalent of $1.5 billion at Tokyo-based Mizuho Asset Management Co. “More investors think the U.S. economy is firmer and growing slowly, and this will last for a while. Europe has entered a recession but it’s unlikely to deteriorate badly. Emerging countries are transitioning from economic slowdown to faster growth again.”
The Asia Pacific gauge has lost about $1.58 trillion this year amid concern Europe’s debt crisis will drag the global economy into recession. Stocks on Asia’s benchmark are valued at 12.7 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 12.7 times for Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPXL1) and 10.6 times for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.
Regional Indexes Slump
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.7 percent this week, paring its annual loss to 17 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (HSI) dropped 1.1 percent through the holiday-shortened week, taking its 2001 slide to 20 percent. Just four Asian benchmark indexes -- Mongolia’s MSE Top 20 Index, Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index, the Philippine Stock Exchange Index and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index -- advanced this year.
Bloomberg
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