Asian stocks tumble

GLOBAL MARKETS/ STOCK REPORT

Toyota Motor, Japan's largest automaker, and Samsung Electronics, Asia's biggest maker of chips, mobile phones and flat panels, fell after US unemployment rose the most in 22 years.

Korean Air Lines plunged the most in three months after Goldman Sachs cut its share-price forecast and crude jumped more than $10 a barrel on June 6. India's Sensitive Index tumbled 3.1 per cent, the most since April.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 1.6 per cent to 147.92 as of 7:15 pm in Tokyo, with about eight stocks retreating for each that climbed. All 10 industry groups and every Asian market dropped, apart from Hong Kong, China, Australia and the Philippines, which are closed on Monday for holidays.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 2.1 per cent to 14,181.38, after ending last week at the highest since January 9.

MSCI's Asian index has dropped 6.2 per cent this year amid signs of slowing expansion in the US and $389 billion of writedowns and credit losses. The unemployment report sent the dollar lower, triggering demand among investors for commodities.

Europe
Stocks in Europe dropped as investors speculated bank losses will increase and near-record oil prices will curb economic growth. US index futures were little changed, paring earlier gains.

The MSCI World Index lost 0.3 per cent to 1,492.24 at 12:23 pm in London. The index has slumped 11 per cent from an all- time high in October on concern credit-related losses approaching $400 billion, rising oil prices and higher inflation will stifle profit growth.

Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose less than 0.1 per cent, after climbing as much as 0.6 per cent.

Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index declined 0.5 per cent.

US
US stocks fell on Friday, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the lowest level since March, as surging unemployment and record oil intensified concern that the economy is sliding into a recession.

The S&P 500 lost 2.8 per cent for the week to 1,360.68, the lowest since April 15. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 3.4 per cent to 12,209.81, dragged down by the worst sell-off in 15 months on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.9 per cent to 2,474.56, and the Russell 2000 Index of small-cap stocks fell 1.1 per cent to 740.37.

The declines reduced the S&P 500's rebound from a 19-month low on March 10 to 6.9 per cent, and left it down 7.3 per cent on the year.