Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Asian Stocks Fall in U.S. Trading; Mitsubishi, PetroChina Drop

By Yi Tian


Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks trading in the U.S. fell to the lowest in almost three weeks. Financial companies such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. led the tumble after New York state broadened its investigation of the mortgage industry.

The Bank of New York Co.'s Asia ADR Index, tracking Asian American depositary receipts, lost 3.3 percent to 172.28. Nikkei 225 Stock Average futures expiring in December were at 15,825 in Chicago, 15,980 in Singapore and 16,050 in Osaka.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he uncovered a ``pattern of collusion'' between lenders and appraisers and said he is targeting banks beyond Washington Mutual Inc. Separately, U.S. banks and brokers face as much as $100 billion of writedowns because of Level 3 accounting rules, in addition to the losses caused by the subprime credit slump, Royal Bank said.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Japan's largest bank, dropped 4.5 percent to $8.59. Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the second largest, declined 3.4 percent to $10.05. Kookmin Bank, the largest lender in South Korea, slid 4.7 percent to $73.35.

PetroChina Co., the world's biggest company by market value, lost 7.2 percent to $212.80. Crude oil fell from a record after an Energy Department report showed U.S. inventories fell less than analysts expected. Credit Suisse also downgraded the oil producer, saying it lacks ``catalysts'' for further share gains in Hong Kong after completing its Shanghai share sale.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's largest mining company that also produces oil, fell 3.8 percent to $80.35. Cnooc Ltd., China's third-largest oil producer, declined 2.4 percent to $185.50. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia's biggest oil refiner known as Sinopec, slid 2.3 percent to $141.55.

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