Asian stocks declined, led by technology and health-care companies, as memory-chip prices fell and Credit Suisse Group AG downgraded blood-products maker CSL.
Elpida Memory, Japan's biggest maker of computer memory, dropped 2.4 per cent in Tokyo as memory-chip prices declined to a five-week low. CSL, the world's second-biggest maker of treatments made from blood, slipped 4.6 per cent in Sydney. PetroChina, China's largest oil producer, lost 1.6 per cent in Shanghai on lower oil prices.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.4 per cent to 126.74 in Tokyo, with three stocks falling for each one that rose. The gauge rose 1.6 per cent yesterday, its biggest gain since March 17. Stocks in the index trade at 16.1 times estimated earnings, compared with 15.2 times for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
''Valuations are still expensive,'' said Michiya Tomita, a Hong Kong-based fund manager for Mitsubishi UFJ Management. We need to see more earnings improvement.''
China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped 1.4 per cent on concern government measures to cool the property market will curb demand for raw materials and damp consumer spending. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.1 per cent.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 0.4 per cent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index increased 0.2 per cent. New Zealand's NZX 50 Index lost 0.3 per cent.
Futures on the S&P 500 were little changed today. The index fell 0.4 per cent yesterday in New York as concern that proposed legislation will hurt banks overshadowed improving earnings at Caterpillar and Whirlpool. After markets closed, US Senate Republicans blocked Democrats from advancing their plan to overhaul Wall Street regulation.
Japan's Elpida lost 2.4 per cent to 2022 yen, while Hynix Semiconductor slumped 3 per cent to 27,650 won in Seoul. The spot price for the benchmark dynamic random access memory chip sank 0.7 per cent yesterday to the lowest level since March 22, according to Dramexchange Technology.
CSL fell 4.6 per cent to $32.38 after Credit Suisse cut the stock to ''neutral'' from ''outperform,'' citing the impact from US health-care reforms. CSL tumbled 7.3 per cent on April 23 when it last traded, after larger rival Baxter International cut its 2010 earnings forecast.
Oil producers fell after crude prices in New York lost 0.4 per cent to $US83.85 in after-hours trading, extending yesterday's 1.1 per cent drop. PetroChina lost 1.6 per cent to 12.01 yuan in Shanghai, while Inpex Corp, Japan's largest oil explorer, sank 1.9 per cent to 686,000 yen.
