Asian stocks move down

GLOBAL MARKETS/ STOCK REPORT

Asian stocks fell for the fifth straight day, led by consumer electronics and natural resources companies, on concerns that the US housing slump will derail growth in the region's biggest export market.

Nintendo, the world's biggest maker of handheld game players, and Matsushita Electric Industrial paced losses in Japan. BHP Billiton and Posco fell after metal and oil prices slid on speculation that demand for commodities will drop.

"Slowing US demand will hurt Asian exporters as well as other industries because of the massiveness of the US economy," said Kevin Yang, president at Paradigm Asset Management, which oversees $360 million in assets in Taipei.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2 per cent to 152 at 7:09 pm in Tokyo, after dropping 1.1 percent and climbing as much as 0.3 percent. Most Asian benchmarks slid.

South Korea's Kospi index gained 1.2 per cent, the most in the region, ahead of the nation's presidential election tomorrow. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 0.3 per cent to 15,207. EUROPE
European stocks erased earlier gains. Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, Nestle SA and Rio Tinto Group led the decline.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index lost 0.1 per cent to 360.32 as of 9:38 am in London after gaining as much as 0.6 per cent. The Stoxx 50 retreated 0.1 per cent, as did the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the euro region.

Nokia dropped 1.5 percent to 25.07 euros. Nestle fell 2.2 per cent to 525 Swiss francs after UBS downgraded shares of the world's largest food company to "neutral" from "buy."

"Nestle has been a major beneficiary of the rotation into large cap defensives that has ocurred since the summer," London-based analysts Alan Erskine and Eva Quiroga wrote in a report published on Tuesday.

"We are not assuming that the market's appetite for risk is suddenly going to increase in the New Year, but we recognize that Nestle's valuation multiples now represent a significant premium to the market."

US
US stock-index futures climbed on talk of Goldman Sachs Group may report record earnings.

The world's largest securities firm gained in Europe. Adobe Systems rose after Deutsche Bank recommended a buy on the software maker's shares. Apple rallied after the Wall Street Journal said the company held talks with NTT DoCoMo to sell the iPhone handset in Japan.

Standard and Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in March increased 9.4 points to 1,466 at 10:30 am in London.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 63 points to 13,332. Nasdaq-100 Index futures rose 10.25 points to 2,059.75.

"All eyes are on Goldman's earnings as they have so far managed to avoid the mess most financials have found themselves in,'' said Andreas Nigg, a fund manager at Vontobel Asset Management in Zurich, which oversees $32 billion. "Investors are keen to know if this winning streak can continue."

US stocks on Monday posted their biggest two-day drop in more than a month, led by commodity producers, on growing concern that the US economy will slow.