Most Asian Stocks Fall on Credit-Loss Concern, Suncorp Profit

Most Asian stocks declined, dragging the MSCI Asia Pacific Index from its highest level in more than a week, as SunTrust Banks Inc. said lenders face more credit losses and Suncorp-Metway Ltd. posted a slump in profit.

KB Financial Group Inc., which operates South Korea’s largest bank, lost 2.3 percent as the chief executive officer of U.S.-based SunTrust said “the industry is a long way from declaring any sort of victory.” Suncorp, Australia’s third- largest insurer, declined 4.2 percent following a 40 percent slide in full-year net income. NGK Insulators Ltd. rallied 4.1 percent in Tokyo after the Nikkei newspaper said it sold a storage battery system to Abu Dhabi.

More than three stocks retreated for every two that rose on the MSCI Asia Pacific, which lost 0.3 percent to 113.38 as of 10:06 a.m. in Tokyo. The index rallied 2.5 percent yesterday, the steepest advance since May 19. The gauge is trading at 24 times estimated earnings, compared with an average of 18 times since the start of 2006, according to Bloomberg data.

“There will be a reversal from yesterday’s big gain,” said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, a strategist at Tokyo-based SMBC Friend Securities Co. Equities “have gone too high and this is a time for investors to book profit.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 0.8 percent to 10,497.99. South Korea’s Kospi Index dropped 0.5 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.7 percent.

No Improvement Expected

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.2 percent. The U.S. gauge dropped 0.1 percent yesterday, erasing an earlier 0.9 percent advance following SunTrust’s comments.