Asia stocks fall after 3 days

GLOBAL MARKETS/ STOCK REPORT

Kookmin Bank, South Korea's biggest bank, dropped to a one- week low after profit fell and St George Bank, Australia's fifth-largest, tumbled the most in three weeks as bad debts and funding costs rose. BHP Billiton, the world's biggest mining company, advanced after copper and gold prices gained.

The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index dropped 0.1 per cent to 498.52 as at 5:04 pm in Hong Kong, following a two-day, 2 per cent advance. Financial shares fell 1 per cent, the biggest drag among the regional benchmark's 10 industry groups, while commodity producers gained 1.1 per cent.

Japan's markets are closed for a holiday. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.5 per cent, while China's CSI 300 Index dropped 1.1 per cent. About half of Asia's benchmarks retreated.

Europe
Stocks fell in Europe and Asia after UBS AG lost $17.3 billion in its investment banking unit and Swiss Reinsurance Co's profit missed analysts' estimates, renewing concern that the crisis in credit markets will deepen.

Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index lost 0.5 per cent to 326.52 at 11:03 am in London. The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index decreased 0.2 per cent, while futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.1 per cent.

Europe's Stoxx 600 has declined 10 per cent this year on speculation that $319 billion in credit losses will cut earnings and push the US into a recession.

National benchmark indexes fell in 14 of the 18 western European markets. The UK's FTSE 100 lost 0.3 per cent, while France's CAC 40 slipped 0.4 per cent, and Germany's DAX dropped 0.5 per cent.

US
US stocks retreated as retailers fell on record oil prices and Yahoo! tumbled the most in almost two years after Microsoft abandoned its $50 billion bid for the company.

The S&P 500 dropped for the first time in three days, losing 6.41 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 1,407.49. The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 88.66, or 0.7 per cent, to 12,969.54.

The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 12.87, or 0.5 per cent, to 2,464.12. Four stocks retreated for every three that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. The S&P 500 has rallied about 11 per cent from a 19-month low in March as profits topped analysts' estimates.