Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third-largest carmaker by market value, fell 1.3 percent. Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. fell 5.5 percent in Seoul after saying it will sell its stake in a liquid-crystal-display business for less than investors expected. Fukuda Corp. led gains among Japanese construction firms after a report the nation will build three bullet train lines.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2 percent to 113.60 as of 10:50 a.m. in Tokyo, with about four stocks falling for each that rose. The measure is headed for an 18 percent decline this year, its biggest annual loss since 2008. Markets in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong are closed today.
“Economic uncertainty is deepening around the world, which is showing up in some Japanese statistics on exports and production,” said Hitoshi Asaoka, a Tokyo-based senior strategist at Mizuho Trust & Banking Co. “Investors find it hard to move near year-end.”
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.4 percent after minutes from a central bank meeting last month showed a few board members said Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis and the yen’s rise pose increasing risks to economic growth.
South Korea’s Kospi Index fell 0.8 percent after consumer sentiment slipped on concern the death of Kim Jong Il will exacerbate regional instability.
The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the larger of China’s stock exchanges, dropped 0.7 percent. Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.1 percent.
Japanese construction companies advanced after the Nikkei newspaper said the nation will start work on three bullet train lines, citing Transportation Minister Takeshi Maeda. Fukuda added 3 percent to 240 yen. Hibiya Engineering Ltd. rose 2.6 percent to 825 yen. Obayashi Corp. gained 2.7 percent to 341 yen.
Stocks in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index are valued at 12.7 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 12.8 times for the S&P 500 and 10.5 times for the Stoxx 600. Utilities have lost 27 percent this year, the worst among the 10 industry groups on the Asian benchmark gauge, as Japanese power generators tumbled after a nuclear crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant.
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