Asia's Pacific

Asian Stocks Fall Third Day on Greek Debt-Swap Concern, European Economy

Asian stocks fell for a third day, with the regional benchmark index headed for the lowest close in a month, after concern grew about a Greece debt-swap deal and a report showed Europe’s economy contracted.

Sony Corp. (6758), Japan’s No. 1 exporter of consumer electronics that gets one-fifth of its revenue in Europe, slid 2.7 percent. Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM) declined 3.3 percent in Sydney, leading mining companies lower after metal and commodity prices dropped. Advantest Corp. (6857), a maker of memory-chip testers, fell 2.2 percent in Tokyo after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks the performance of 30 industry stocks, lost 0.9 percent yesterday. Full story