Asian stocks fell, led by exporters such as Sony Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co., after a U.S. report showed fewer jobs were created in June than expected, raising concern demand from the world's largest economy may slow. Semiconductor-related shares such as Tokyo Electron Ltd. and Samsung Electronics Co. declined after Deutsche Bank AG joined Morgan Stanley in saying Intel Corp., the world's largest chipmaker, may miss its own revenue forecasts. ``There isn't much reason to buy this market now,'' said Kikuo Osone, who helps manage $8 billion at Fukoku Capital Management Inc. in Tokyo. ``Concerns over slowing earnings growth are looming and the U.S. labor report wasn't something that investors wanted to see.''
Morgan Stanley Capital International's Asia-Pacific Index, which tracks more than 900 stocks in the region, fell 0.9 percent to 90.34, declining for a second day, at 1:20 p.m. in Tokyo. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 1.5 percent to 11,547.23, and South Korea's Kospi index shed 0.7 percent in Seoul. Taiwan's Taiex index slumped 1.5 percent, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and United Microelectronics Corp., the world's two largest suppliers of made-to-order chips. All benchmarks in markets opened for trading declined apart from those in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Indonesian markets are shut for the presidential election. Job Figures U.S. companies added 112,000 workers to payrolls last month, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists expected an increase of 250,000, according to the median of 73 forecasts in a Bloomberg New Survey. Factory jobs fell for the first time in five months, suggesting businesses were turning more cautious. Markets in the U.S. are closed today for the Fourth of July. The Federal Reserve last week raised its key overnight lending rate for the first time in four years. Sony, the world's second-biggest maker of consumer electronics, slid 1.2 percent to 4,090 yen. Toyota Motor Corp., the nation's largest carmaker, fell 1.1 percent to 4,360 yen. Hyundai Motor, South Korea's biggest automaker, dropped 1.2 percent to 42,000 won. ``Worry about slowing U.S. demand definitely damps sentiment,'' said Kevin Lin, who manages the equivalent of $60 million at Shinkong Investment Trust Co. in Taipei. Computer-related stocks, the second-biggest drag on MSCI's Asia-Pacific benchmark, slumped on concern industry demand is declining.
Tokyo Electron, which supplies semiconductor production equipment to Intel, slipped 1.7 percent to 5,810 yen. Advantest Corp., the world's biggest maker of equipment used to test computer memory chips, dropped 2.3 percent to 6,920 yen.
Intel Forecasts
Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of computer- memory chips, lost 1.7 percent to 436,500 won. Taiwan Semiconductor fell 2.6 percent to NT$45 while United Microelectronics shed 2.1 percent to NT$23.90. Third-quarter sales growth at Intel, the world's biggest chipmaker, may be reduced by lower-than-expected demand for personal-computer parts and problems with its new Grantsdale chipset, said Ben Lynch, a Deutsche Bank Securities analyst in New York. He cut his rating on the stock to `hold' from ``buy.'' Mark Edelstone, a Morgan Stanley analyst, last week predicted Intel's sales in the quarter ending September will be $8.5 billion to $8.6 billion, below the $8.75 billion average forecast in a Thomson poll. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index declined 2.1 percent Friday, with all of its 18 stocks falling.
Banks Fall
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. led declines by Japanese banks after the Nihon Keizai newspaper said the balance of the country's government bonds held by lenders rose to more than 100 trillion yen ($923 billion), adding to concerns that a recent plunge in bond prices may lower the value of banks' bond holdings. Mizuho Financial, Japan's largest bank by assets, lost 2.5 percent to 462,000 yen. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dropped 3.4 percent to 4,580 yen. Japan's banks held 108 trillion yen in government bonds, a 20 billion yen increase in the past year, the Nikkei reported over the weekend. Lenders in Japan have paper losses on their government bonds because long-term interest rates have been rising since the middle of last year, and if those rates continue to rise, the losses will increase, the report said///www.bloomberg.com