Asian stocks fluctuated as Japanese car exporters gained after a report showed better-than-estimated US retail sales. Billabong, the world's largest publicly traded maker of surfwear, plunged in Sydney.
Toyota, which receives about 28 per cent of its sales from North America, gained 0.9 per cent in Tokyo, even after a decline in the quarterly Tankan index of sentiment among Japan's largest manufacturers. Billabong slumped 9 per cent in Sydney after lowering its profit forecasts.
“US consumption is recovering, and the global economy is mildly improving,” said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager in Tokyo at Nikko Cordial Securities.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2 per cent to 134.82, with about as many shares advancing as declining. The measure rose yesterday to the highest level since July 2008.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index and South Korea's Kospi Index were little changed.
Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 0.1 per cent today. The index gained 0.1 per cent yesterday in New York after the Commerce Department said purchases at US retailers increased 0.8 per cent, following a 1.7 per cent gain in October that was larger than previously estimated.
The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a 0.6 per cent rise.